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What is a community relations manager and how to become one
A community relations manager is a marketing director who works on marketing efforts, fundraisers, and other events and oversees the representation of an organization to the communities they work with. You are in charge of coordinating with community leaders to identify the people's needs, creating programs that would address these needs, and raising funds for their projects. Your responsibilities are to oversee the implementation of the company's community projects, manage the project's budget and workforce allocation, ensure that the good relationship between the company and the community is maintained at all times, manage support staff, and create marketing materials.
The primary qualifications for getting a job as a community relations manager are a bachelor's degree in a related field and some experience with presentations and negotiations. You must be able to understand how to use media relations principles and practices. You will earn an average of $47,195 annually.
What general advice would you give to a community relations manager?
Derek Arnold
Senior Instructor, Villanova University
One of the things I stress to my incoming first-year students is that you need to be less concerned about specialized skills right off the start that you might develop over four (or more) years (and many will wind up changing their choice of that major anyhow over their collegiate career) and worry more about strong "general" skills that will apply to multiple areas "out there." I tell them that some jobs available in four years haven't even been created yet. Application software developers, data miners, 3d printing engineers, AI specialists--all these positions were in their infancy only a few years ago. Some of the people in school right now will be among the first who might be hired to fill the new jobs created.
To some extent, the training for them is not complete either, so some basic skills can help you be in the right place at the right time. Skills like problem-solving, critical thinking, logic/argumentation, and strong speaking skills never go out of style and can turn out to be a key to success once you get dropped into a situation that wasn't exactly what you were expecting when you were looking for your first "real" job. Think about it: If you bought stock in a company that employed Zoom support technicians, plexiglass screen manufacturers, and installers, mask makers, or contact tracing application software designers, you are probably sitting in a good place right now. The key is to be prepared, ready, and willing to explore new opportunities as they arise; there's a lot you can learn on the fly, but having a well developed, sensible pattern to address general questions to solve problems (or even what questions you need to ask) can put you in advantageous positions. There is a crying need for this, especially in today's ever-changing world.
Avg. Salary $71,899
Avg. Salary $59,228
Growth rate 8%
Growth rate 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.42%
Asian 5.14%
Black or African American 6.06%
Hispanic or Latino 9.20%
Unknown 4.67%
White 74.52%
Genderfemale 69.51%
male 30.49%
Age - 41American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%
Asian 7.00%
Black or African American 14.00%
Hispanic or Latino 19.00%
White 57.00%
Genderfemale 47.00%
male 53.00%
Age - 41Stress level is very high
7.1 - high
Complexity level is advanced
7 - challenging
Work life balance is poor
6.4 - fair
Community relations manager career paths
Key steps to become a community relations manager
Explore community relations manager education requirements
Start to develop specific community relations manager skills
Skills Percentages Patients 18.85% Medicare 9.91% Business Development 8.04% Community Events 6.28% Health Fairs 5.22% Complete relevant community relations manager training and internships
Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New community relations managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a community relations manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real community relations manager resumes.Research community relations manager duties and responsibilities
- Manage social networking, such as Facebook.
- Plan and execute project grand openings and manage all social media platforms (Facebook/Twitter )
- Manage the creation and display of both user-generate and resort-developed videos for YouTube.
- Maintain strong working relationships across all departments to manage successful on-site opportunities, content and multimedia asset development and spokesperson requests.
Prepare your community relations manager resume
When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your community relations manager resume.
You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a community relations manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.
Choose from 10+ customizable community relations manager resume templates
Build a professional community relations manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your community relations manager resume.
Apply for community relations manager jobs
Now it's time to start searching for a community relations manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:
- Browse job boards for relevant postings
- Consult your professional network
- Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
- Watch out for job scams
How did you land your first community relations manager job
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Average community relations manager salary
The average community relations manager salary in the United States is $71,899 per year or $35 per hour. Community relations manager salaries range between $47,000 and $107,000 per year.
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Updated January 8, 2025
