How To Become A Director Of Public Information: What It Is and Career Path

What is a director of public information and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Jody McBrien

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a director of public information. For example, did you know that they make an average of $41.86 an hour? That's $87,066 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 6,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

What's a day at work look like for a director of public information?

Jody McBrien

Professor, University of South Florida

If we look at a Spring 2021 graduate's work life, I have to say it remains highly unclear what the daily life will entail. Just last spring, we were all hopeful that we would move out of the pandemic later in 2020. But here we are, nearly a year after the beginning of this pandemic, and we are now fearing variants of the virus when we had hoped that a vaccine might allow us to move back to a more "normal" way of life by spring 2021. So it's just hard to say. I think that graduates need to be prepared for distanced jobs and technological savvy for the near future.

ScoreDirector Of Public InformationUS Average

Salary

6.8

Avg. Salary $87,066

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.7

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.42%

Asian 5.10%

Black or African American 5.91%

Hispanic or Latino 9.07%

Unknown 4.66%

White 74.84%

Gender

female 53.26%

male 46.74%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

8.7

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.4

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a director of public information

Explore director of public information education requirements

Most common director of public information degrees

Bachelor's

72.6 %

Master's

19.6 %

Associate

3.7 %

Start to develop specific director of public information skills

Skills	Percentages
Press Releases	28.41%
External Communications	10.77%
Web Content	9.16%
Spokesperson	9.09%
Press Conferences	6.65%

Complete relevant director of public information training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New directors of public information 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 director of public information based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real director of public information resumes.

Research director of public information duties and responsibilities

Serve as college spokesperson managing crisis communications.
Increase contact information accuracy; record alumni achievements, publications, philanthropic affiliations; document volunteer and event participation.
Lead a rebranding and revitalization of the intranet by focusing on improving internal communication, search capabilities, and branding elements.

Get director of public information experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a director of public information. The most common roles before becoming a director of public information include reporter, public information officer team lead and communications director.

Prepare your director of public information resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your director of public information 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 director of public information resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable director of public information resume templates

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