Corporate communications specialists manage an organization's communication with the public. The role is related to a spokesperson because they are responsible for creating press releases, answering media questions, and organization speaking engagements. A corporate communications specialist strives to create a positive public perception of the organization.

The job requires a blend of expertise, including marketing, communications, knowledge of media content, and others. The communications specialist may also need to plan and evaluate communications campaigns and monitor the public's perception of a business.

They may also work for non-profit organizations where they organize fundraisers and handle volunteer recruitments. Corporate communications specialists need to have strong relationships with media houses and a good understanding of the public's opinion.

To become a corporate communications specialist, you need a bachelor's degree in communications or a related field. You'll also need skills like media writing and software proficiency.

What Does a Corporate Communications Specialist Do

There are certain skills that many corporate communications specialists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, organizational skills and problem-solving skills.

Learn more about what a Corporate Communications Specialist does

How To Become a Corporate Communications Specialist

If you're interested in becoming a corporate communications specialist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 78.9% of corporate communications specialists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 8.9% of corporate communications specialists have master's degrees. Even though most corporate communications specialists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Corporate Communications Specialist
Top Corporate Communications Specialist Jobs Near You

Corporate Communications Specialist Career Paths

Average Salary for a Corporate Communications Specialist

Corporate Communications Specialists in America make an average salary of $58,892 per year or $28 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $100,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $34,000 per year.
Average Corporate Communications Specialist Salary
$58,892 Yearly
$28.31 hourly

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Roles and Types of Corporate Communications Specialist

The role of a corporate communications specialist includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general corporate communications specialist responsibilities:

  • Build relationships and collaborate across the business to understand
  • Source, write, edit and publish informative
  • Communicationserve as liaison with other communication team members across the company to provide connection to groups/divisions/technologies create consistent communication vehicles, templates

There are several types of corporate communications specialist, including:

Communications Coordinator

Role:

A communication Coordinator supports the communication department to perform administrative tasks in executing and improving communication strategies. He/She also puts down several contents to assist marketing and communication endeavors. This includes copywriting, newsletter, and press release. Primarily, you are meant to assist the communication department in implementing and building a master plan to improve company objectives. The success and failure of your work must be well monitored by giving an analysis and reporting the campaigns and strategies. As a communication Coordinator, familiarity with the latest industry trends helps you provide recommendations for communication strategies and practices. You also cannot ignore media publicity; therefore, responding to media inquiries and maintaining a relationship with journalists helps your work to be more effective.

Your responsibilities include organizing press conferences, coordinating volunteers, assisting the staff, and performing outreach to magazines, press, and influencers to improve the company's productivity. Uncommon interpersonal skills, public speaking skills, exceptional writing skills, management and organizational skills, and knowledge of communication and marketing morals are all essential skills of a communication Coordinator. The average salary of a communication Coordinator annually is $45,000. A bachelor's degree in Mass Communication, Journalism, or other related fields will set you up for the role.
  • Average Salary: $47,075
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Public Relations

Role:

Public relations are specialists in building and maintaining a positive public image for the company. They create and maintain relationships with the consumer, employee, and the public interest. You will relate with the marketing and advertising teams to maintain open communication with the management. You will also develop public relations campaigns and media relations strategies that you can edit and use to update the existing promotional material and publications. You will make sure you seek opportunities for partnerships, sponsorships, and advertising. In addition, you will prepare and submit the PR reports to the management.

The educational requirement for the public relations post is a degree in Public Relations, Journalism, Communications, or a related field. Experience in project management software and the ability to edit videos and photos are also handy. Plus, you must be able to work under pressure, have goal-oriented and problem-solving skills. Strong verbal and written communication skills are equally required for the post. You will earn $22.53 an hour or $46,854 annually.

  • Average Salary: $48,383
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Communications Consultant

Role:

Communications consultants are employed in various industries to develop and write content for internal and external media communications. They plan and create communications strategies. They interview internal sources, collect relevant information and develop material for media releases and communication sessions. Asides from that, they monitor the results of media activities and submit reports. Additionally, they schedule and adhere to the timely release of communications and media information. Communications consultants may also work on projects, such as branding, media analysis, and communications audits.

To become a communications consultant, you need a minimum of a bachelor's degree in communications, public relations, or a related field. You may be required to have up to ten years of relevant work experience. You must have communication, project management, presentation, computer, attention to detail, listening, organization, and multitasking skills. These professionals earn an average salary of $76,377 annually. This ranges between $47,000 and $124,000.

  • Average Salary: $91,455
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Corporate Communications Specialist Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active corporate communications specialist jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where corporate communications specialists earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Corporate Communications Specialist Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California3,218$68,013
2Texas1,746$50,235
3New York1,559$69,055
4Florida1,534$43,756
5Illinois1,128$48,658
6Virginia1,073$72,836
7Massachusetts950$66,962
8Pennsylvania949$68,305
9Georgia932$58,002
10North Carolina842$50,607
11Washington826$56,073
12Ohio657$66,768
13Maryland652$56,151
14New Jersey627$73,401
15Michigan600$54,182
16Colorado574$58,100
17Arizona543$60,995
18Indiana493$50,364
19Minnesota466$55,107
20Wisconsin452$46,164
21Tennessee409$51,675
22Missouri402$45,887
23Oregon388$59,789
24Utah362$46,184
25Iowa330$46,847
26Alabama324$45,994
27Connecticut290$76,904
28South Carolina278$49,962
29Louisiana270$48,965
30Kentucky255$54,263
31Kansas229$42,915
32Arkansas219$56,351
33Oklahoma213$45,010
34Delaware212$61,635
35Nevada212$53,667
36Nebraska202$47,972
37Idaho174$54,290
38New Hampshire136$64,963
39Mississippi136$41,978
40New Mexico132$54,995
41West Virginia130$57,242
42Maine123$48,190
43Rhode Island113$69,252
44Hawaii108$59,650
45South Dakota108$45,255
46Alaska106$37,319
47Montana106$40,116
48North Dakota101$51,595
49Vermont100$56,316
50Wyoming97$47,217

Corporate Communications Specialist Education

Corporate Communications Specialist Majors

17.0 %

Corporate Communications Specialist Degrees

Bachelors

78.9 %

Masters

8.9 %

Associate

8.0 %

Top Colleges for Corporate Communications Specialists

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Education
Economics
Political Science
English

2. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Journalism
Communication
Psychology
Political Science

3. Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Accounting
Finance
Psychology
Public Relations
Journalism

4. University of Houston

Houston, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,913

Enrollment

37,291

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Psychology
Business
Accounting
Finance
Marketing

5. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Communication
Accounting
Public Relations
Psychology

6. Syracuse University

Syracuse, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,853

Enrollment

14,759

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Public Relations
Psychology
Journalism
Accounting

7. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,308

Enrollment

6,819

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Finance
Communication
Accounting
Marketing

8. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Psychology
Communication
Economics
Journalism

9. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$49,880

Enrollment

4,177

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Accounting
Finance
Business
Marketing
Journalism And Mass Communications

10. Marquette University

Milwaukee, WI • Private

In-State Tuition

$41,870

Enrollment

8,200

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Public Relations
Psychology
Finance
Accounting

Top Skills For a Corporate Communications Specialist

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 9.1% of corporate communications specialists listed corporate communications on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and organizational skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Corporate Communications Specialist Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Corporate Communications Specialist templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Corporate Communications Specialist resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Corporate Communications Specialist Resume
Corporate Communications Specialist Resume
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Corporate Communications Specialist Resume
Corporate Communications Specialist Resume

Corporate Communications Specialist Demographics

Corporate Communications Specialist Gender Distribution

Female
Female
62%
Male
Male
38%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among corporate communications specialists, 62.2% of them are women, while 37.8% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among corporate communications specialists is White, which makes up 67.0% of all corporate communications specialists.

  • The most common foreign language among corporate communications specialists is Spanish at 37.8%.

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Best States For a Corporate Communications Specialist

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a corporate communications specialist. The best states for people in this position are Connecticut, New Jersey, Virginia, and Rhode Island. Corporate communications specialists make the most in Connecticut with an average salary of $76,904. Whereas in New Jersey and Virginia, they would average $73,401 and $72,836, respectively. While corporate communications specialists would only make an average of $69,252 in Rhode Island, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Virginia

Total Corporate Communications Specialist Jobs: 1,073
Highest 10% Earn:
$120,000
Location Quotient:
1.23

2. District of Columbia

Total Corporate Communications Specialist Jobs: 370
Highest 10% Earn:
$121,000
Location Quotient:
2.38

3. New York

Total Corporate Communications Specialist Jobs: 1,559
Highest 10% Earn:
$114,000
Location Quotient:
1.31
Full List Of Best States For Corporate Communications Specialists

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Top Corporate Communications Specialist Employers

Most Common Employers For Corporate Communications Specialist

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Citi$124,467$59.844
2BNY Mellon$123,157$59.2139
3State Street$121,065$58.2011
4Dell$110,410$53.087
5Morgan Stanley$109,879$52.835
6Devon Energy$109,241$52.524
7Merrill Lynch$109,080$52.444
8Accenture$106,046$50.987
9JPMorgan Chase & Co.$90,717$43.6112
10Johnson & Johnson$88,727$42.665

Corporate Communications Specialist Videos