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The differences between directors, corporate communications and public relations directors 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 relations director. Additionally, a director, corporate communications has an average salary of $104,820, which is higher than the $94,692 average annual salary of a public relations director.
The top three skills for a director, corporate communications include corporate communications, external communications and press releases. The most important skills for a public relations director are press releases, web content, and pr campaigns.
| Director, Corporate Communications | Public Relations Director | |
| Yearly salary | $104,820 | $94,692 |
| Hourly rate | $50.39 | $45.52 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 34,978 | 31,693 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 81% |
| 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.
A public relations director is an individual who is employed to design and implement marketing strategies that can cultivate the relationship between a company and the media. Public relations directors collaborate with the internal team to boost brand awareness and maximize brand consistency in all advertising efforts. They must arrange interviews and press releases so that they can promote their company and its products or services. They also maintain relationships with the media and should manage sensitive issues to maintain the company's good reputation.
Directors, corporate communications and public relations directors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Director, Corporate Communications | Public Relations Director | |
| Average salary | $104,820 | $94,692 |
| Salary range | Between $64,000 And $169,000 | Between $59,000 And $150,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Napa, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Nevada |
| Best paying company | Juniper Networks | Exelixis |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Internet |
There are a few differences between a director, corporate communications and a public relations director in terms of educational background:
| Director, Corporate Communications | Public Relations Director | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 81% |
| Most common major | Communication | Communication |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between directors, corporate communications' and public relations directors' demographics:
| Director, Corporate Communications | Public Relations Director | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 45.2% Female, 54.8% | Male, 35.9% Female, 64.1% |
| 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, 6.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 5.1% White, 74.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 16% |