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The differences between directors, corporate communications and public information officers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a director, corporate communications and a public information officer. Additionally, a director, corporate communications has an average salary of $104,820, which is higher than the $56,725 average annual salary of a public information officer.
The top three skills for a director, corporate communications include corporate communications, external communications and press releases. The most important skills for a public information officer are press releases, web content, and community outreach.
| Director, Corporate Communications | Public Information Officer | |
| Yearly salary | $104,820 | $56,725 |
| Hourly rate | $50.39 | $27.27 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 34,978 | 129,237 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Corporate communications directors are responsible for supervising all official communications for their organization, including emails, press releases, responses to media inquiries, and through other formats. As top-level managers, they oversee middle managers and work with a communications staff, ensuring that all communications deliver a consistent message that is equivalent to the corporate philosophy and branding. Their duties include analyzing communications strategies and policies to examine their effectiveness. Also, they set up and implement communications policies and determine official formatting for documents. Additionally, they collaborate with different departments to ascertain communications' needs and develop plans to resolve those needs.
The primary job of a public information officer involves the promotion of a positive public image on social media. Public information officers offer significant information during a crisis. They collect facts and distribute them to the media and organize special events like awards ceremonies. Typically, they work for large organizations and government agencies. They maintain their online presence that can be part of the duties of public information. Also, they can work for long hours on an irregular schedule, especially when the incidents or situations affect the organization.
Directors, corporate communications and public information officers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Director, Corporate Communications | Public Information Officer | |
| Average salary | $104,820 | $56,725 |
| Salary range | Between $64,000 And $169,000 | Between $38,000 And $83,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Fairfield, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Delaware |
| Best paying company | Juniper Networks | City of Fairfield |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Professional |
There are a few differences between a director, corporate communications and a public information officer in terms of educational background:
| Director, Corporate Communications | Public Information Officer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Most common major | Communication | Communication |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between directors, corporate communications' and public information officers' demographics:
| Director, Corporate Communications | Public Information Officer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 45.2% Female, 54.8% | Male, 43.7% Female, 56.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 5.1% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 5.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 5.1% White, 75.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 16% |