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| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 7 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 7 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 7 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 7 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 6 | 0.00% |
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $68,392 | $32.88 | +2.7% |
| 2025 | $66,584 | $32.01 | +1.9% |
| 2024 | $65,332 | $31.41 | +1.2% |
| 2023 | $64,570 | $31.04 | +2.2% |
| 2022 | $63,176 | $30.37 | +2.2% |
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 284 | 41% |
| 2 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 129 | 17% |
| 3 | Alaska | 739,795 | 111 | 15% |
| 4 | Delaware | 961,939 | 132 | 14% |
| 5 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 173 | 13% |
| 6 | Vermont | 623,657 | 81 | 13% |
| 7 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 68 | 12% |
| 8 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 738 | 11% |
| 9 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 128 | 10% |
| 10 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 86 | 10% |
| 11 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 797 | 9% |
| 12 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 519 | 9% |
| 13 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 175 | 9% |
| 14 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 97 | 9% |
| 15 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 92 | 9% |
| 16 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 618 | 8% |
| 17 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 455 | 8% |
| 18 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 292 | 8% |
| 19 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 249 | 8% |
| 20 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 134 | 8% |
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Coastal Carolina University
Grand Valley State University
Saint Mary's College
University of Kentucky
University of San Francisco
Denison University
Bowie State University
Wartburg College
California State University - Long Beach
Point Loma Nazarene University
San Francisco State University
Matthew Turner Ph.D., M.B.A.: People like the flexibility and excitement that can come with being a communication specialist. You can often meet interesting and important people and travel to new places. You can get new challenges frequently so you don’t fall into a rut. One of the things that people dislike about being a communication specialist is that it can sometimes feel amorphous. They might wonder what are the most important things to learn, what skills, tools, software, etc. are most valuable and how will changing technology make that knowledge obsolete? It often involves retraining and evolving job responsibilities and positions.
Erica Haugtvedt Ph.D.: The skills I think that will become more prevalent and important in the next 3-5 years are critical thinking skills. By critical thinking, I mean looking at the big picture and thinking about values, ethics, and thinking ahead to implications and consequences. AI will be able to produce a lot of words, but whether those words are appropriate to the situation, purpose, and context--whether those words are the words that we need--that will be something that only a conscientious and intelligent person can bring to the situation. People who are able to do that should be leaders in any field.
Erica Haugtvedt Ph.D.: You can maximize your salary potential by presenting your previous experience in the best light and keying it to what the jobs you’re applying for want and need, even if you don’t have experience in that exact job before. If you’re able to write a compelling resume, you could land in a better starting position with a higher salary. The other advice I would give is to always negotiate. Even if you only get a little bit more money in salary for asking, all of that adds up over the years!
Dr. Holly Sullenger PhD: Soft skills such as communication, active listening, giving and receiving feedback, writing, and presenting well are crucial and will become more important.
Mr. Daniel Routh: On a day-to-day basis, a communication specialist is likely to be interviewing or networking, planning an event, taking photos or videos, posting and managing social media on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube, meeting with teams or clients about branding and marketing, editing videos, or writing news updates.
David Painter Ph.D.: Many Communication Specialists appreciate the variety in their work as well as their ability to decide which industry they want to promote. From crafting compelling brand narratives for tourist or hospitality organizations to managing digital platforms for financial or legal organizations to strategizing communication plans for sports, fashion, or automotive companies, the possibilities are nearly infinite. Moreover, communication specialists enjoy the creativity, strategic thinking, and collaboration their role demands. However, the job can also be stressful, particularly during crises or when managing conflicting narratives. Long hours and balancing multiple projects can be challenging, but for many, the fast-paced nature and the ability to shape public perception make it worth it.
David Painter Ph.D.: The communication field continues to rapidly evolve with digital and technological advancements making it a dynamic profession involved in many aspects of our daily lives. Indeed, today’s consumers are the best informed and most empowered in history with online reviews, ratings, and critiques of every imaginable product, service, and experience. In this context, organizations recognize the need for skilled professionals to manage their brand image and convey messages effectively, particularly in today's digital world where public perception can shift quickly. Communication Specialists are crucial in navigating these ever-changing conditions, making it an exciting, rewarding, and in-demand career.
Andrew Wood Ph.D.: Communication Studies, a field that traces its roots back to ancient inquiries into the nature of persuasion, remains in many ways an emerging field. After all, while traditional notions of public speaking emerge from time-testing insights, our field is constantly evolving to address new challenges, modalities, and opportunities. Thus my general advice to anyone entering the field is to avoid relying solely on established career pathways. Yes, there are plenty of jobs in marketing, media production, speech writing, education, management, and the like. But the most effective job-seekers are those who are nimble, flexible, and focused on how they can articulate the value-add of their training to an organization's unique exigences.
Dr. Alice Veksler Ph.D., BCPA: Practice your interpersonal skills and think about how what you have learned in your coursework translates to your chosen field of work. Teamwork, conflict resolution, social media savvy, and professionalism can make or break a career. Being able to articulate and demonstrate mastery of these skills with concrete examples during an interview can help land the job and then embodying the skillset of an excellent communicator will lead to professional success. Networking is also key so making sure that you do internships and engage with others in your chosen field helps with securing a job. Forging connections early in one's career can pay massive dividends down the road. We say that 'you get jobs by talking to people' and this maxim is especially true for a broad field like communication studies. Finally, I always encourage a healthy work-life balance to avoid burnout and maximize productivity.
Dr. Alice Veksler Ph.D., BCPA: The single most important thing you can do is learn effective negotiation skills so that you negotiate a good salary and benefits package. Starting salaries will often set the baseline for future earning potential so being able to ensure that you are paid your worth early on is very important. New hires are often hesitant to negotiate salary to their detriment. Effective salary negotiation requires knowing how to do some basic market research to know what is reasonable and requires an understanding of the basics of principled negotiation. For example, it is important to know about positions vs. interests and what a BATNA/WATNA are. Beyond that, you need to stay proactive to ensure you are getting regular salary increases commensurate with norms in the field. Those increases are largely contingent on performance so excelling at the job then becomes the key to ongoing financial success. Making yourself an indispensable and irreplaceable asset to the employer is also very important.
Yao Sun: People like being a Communication Specialist because of its dynamic and vibrant working environment. However, sometimes people dislike being a Communication Specialist due to the fact that this job demands high energy in dealing with various relationships, and this is a capability that not everybody can have.
Coastal Carolina University
Communication And Media Studies
Wendy Weinhold Ph.D.: Curiosity is the most importantly thing when it comes to skill building. Your college classes have you a solid foundation, but there is always more to learn. Seek out mentors who will help you understand your strengths and weaknesses, and be open to opportunities that help you grow.
Dr. Mikhila Wildey PhD: Maximizing salary potential often has to do with knowing your worth. It is important for individuals to do some research on what similar positions in the field are being paid in order to understand what an acceptable salary range may be for a particular position. In order to argue for an offer to be on the higher end of a typical salary range and maximize earning potential, it is important to vocalize your skills and assets within interviews and in your application materials. Individuals will need to self-advocate to show why they should earn a higher salary. It can be helpful to write out their skills and assets on paper first and rehearse saying them out loud to feel more comfortable and confident within an interview.
Dr. Mikhila Wildey PhD: I think the ability to engage and connect with people will be very important in the field as we shift more and more to a culture that is driven by AI. Although AI can be a useful tool, it likely won’t ever fully replace the value of human interaction and connection. In addition, employers often comment that they want to see employees with strong work ethic, and I think this will continue to be the case in 3-5 years. Having a strong work ethic can separate the people that move forward in their careers to those who remain stagnant.
Dr. Mikhila Wildey PhD: My general advice for a graduate beginning their career in the field is to work hard, stay open-minded, and network! Most employees won’t stay in the same position for their entire career, and so I often tell graduates to not get too hung up on the first job needing to be the 'perfect' job for them. Often, the first job will be a place where they learn how to navigate the workplace, learn about their own strengths/weaknesses, and figure out what they like and don’t like. I encourage graduates to use this information to help them make decisions about the next steps in their career. And, if they are working hard and networking with people at their job, then opportunities will often times present themselves or be more available to them as they navigate their future career path.
Dr. Veronica Hefner: I would recommend that a new graduate shows up and does the work to the best of their ability. So much of success is determined by reliability, competency, and effort. Aim to achieve a work/life balance that helps you stay mentally and physically healthy, but realize that means that when you're at work, you need to work. The most successful people are not always the most talented or the most educated, but they are the ones who exert the most effort and ambition. However, when you go home at the end of the day, leave work behind and focus on yourself. Finally, show respect to others. If you disagree with them, or just don't like them, you still need to show respect. Respect diverse people, ideas, perspectives, and consider the experiences you have with people and ideas that are different from your own as a privilege that helps you learn and grow.
University of Kentucky
Hospitality Administration/Management
Ying Lu Ph.D.: Introducing and instructing customers on how to use various tech equipment to have a better consumption experience.
Ying Lu Ph.D.: Work experience. Gain work experience in the industry as much as possible while studying the degree colleges. If possible, get a promotion to a supervisory position before graduation.
Tika Lamsal PhD: You may want to look for career opportunities that provide a platform for your professional growth through deeply engaging and responsive communication practices across languages and cultures.
Dr. Charles St-Georges Ph.D.: Be sure to communicate to potential employers all the skills you've acquired besides just 'speaking the language.' For example, your study of language and culture has helped you develop strong communication skills in both speaking and writing, and your intercultural competence has enabled you to engage with and learn from diverse populations in positive, productive ways. Your analytical skills are well developed after several years interpreting texts and cultural production across a variety of contexts and in comparison with your own language and culture. You already have significant experience adapting to new systems and learning to function and communicate quickly and effectively within them. Language majors are also uniquely aware of how cross-cultural communication needs to work if it is to happen successfully in an increasingly globalized world, regardless of the language of communication. Take the time to reflect on all the skills you've developed as a language major so you're ready to articulate them and advocate for yourself in a job interview.
Dr. Rochelle Daniel: My general advice to a graduate who transitions into that first professional job in the Communication field is similar to advice I give Communication students for navigating internship workspaces (Communications Internship Handbook: What HBCU Students Need to Know, 2022). Be intentional about learning the organizational or office culture, really listen to find out what is expected of you, be flexible and adaptable when there are changes in workflow, and don't be afraid to ask questions.
Dr. Penni Pier: You must be confident in the skill sets you have and negotiate for a beginning salary that is commensurate with your skills. A lot of emerging professionals shy away from negotiation (or making the right fit for that matter) because they are afraid of turning down a job. Interviews and the first series of negotiations set the tone for the relationship you will have with your employer. You also must be willing to look in geographic areas and related industries that need your skill sets to make give you the most opportunities to be choosy with your first professional position. While at your first position, it is important to make sure that your portfolio stays current, and they you are continuing to do professional development. Be proactive and learn (or enhance) any skills you find lacking. Work on client interaction and how to be a good collaborator with your colleagues. If you do these things and there is room for advancement with the organization that first hired, you this will give you a “leg up” in terms of salary potential. If there is not opportunity for advancement a first position will give you tangible work experience for your portfolio and an opportunity to practice your skills which in turn will make you more marketable if or when you decide to move on.
Dr. Nick DiFrancesco: Communication- many grads lack even basic communication skills such as presenting, writing, or conversation; the industry is going to be seeking out not just the best and brightest, individuals who are personable, can relate and have rational discussions with others. The inability to engage in conversation and debate, or network with others is a serious issue among students, and these are skills that are absolutely vital to any professional.
Dr. Nick DiFrancesco: Be reliable and willing to do different things. You don’t know where your best suited after graduation, but demonstrating that you can be counted on is not easily forgotten by most employers. Similarly, employees who decide to pigeon-hole themselves into a narrow set of tasks are rarely asked to do much beyond that, and can impede the progress in one’s career.
California State University - Long Beach
Classics And Classical Languages, Literatures, And Linguistics
Dr. Nancy Meyer MA MA PhD: As AI becomes a bigger force, it will become increasingly important that students be able to communicate clearly and intentionally (really know and understand what you want to say, and say it clearly). AI responds clearly to clarity. So, my first bit of advice is learn to communicate clearly. Additionally, in spoken communication—which will continue to be important!—clarity and professionalism will become increasingly difficult to find and more important. My student write for me at least twice during the semester and many of them don’t communicate their thoughts clearly and they can’t (or won’t?) use accepted formats in writing. In know APA is not going to be used at Kaiser or Chase, but every profession, every corporate entity has accepted formats for written communication and students will be expected to emulate those basic formats, likely without formal training. #2, learn to use different formats in written communication. Third, do whatever you need to do to think differently and gain different perspectives. I always encourage my students to take different classes! This is will help them foster curiosity, which will help them not only make a living, but also help them make a LIFE that they want to inhabit! Professionally, these odd classes will help them understand the world and their professions differently! If every engineer takes the same basic classes, they are all going to ask the same questions and come to the same conclusions or lack of answers. It’s the one that took Art History as a minor, or Classics, that sees the world a bit differently! They see different analogies, ask different questions, and find different solutions. Likewise, the Religious Studies major that takes Physics or Psychology is going to approach their work differently. I got into my PhD program BECAUSE I had weird degrees and so I brought very different perspectives. And, my colleague at Soka University, who is an Ob/Gyn, was excited to meet Classicist because in medical school students with Classics degrees always did better on exams (because of the Latin).
Dr. Nancy Meyer MA MA PhD: Do the research! And, be able to clearly articulate your value. This is especially true for women, and doubly so for women of color who most often get shafted on salary! Women are never assumed to be needed or intelligent in the same way that (white) men are. We have to make our case with data. Know your value, but don’t assume anyone else will know it. Do the research and find out what people at your level in that field get paid and then MAKE YOUR CASE, clearly.
Point Loma Nazarene University
Romance Languages, Literatures, And Linguistics
Margarita Pintado Burgos Ph.D.: I believe you can maximize your salary potential by selling yourself well. In the humanities we tend to think selling ourselves is a bad thing, so we need to move past that idea and really be prepared to wow our interviewers. Give a great first impression, make sure you know your worth and you know how to explain that worth, study the company/ agency you are interested in working with, and find those spots where you can help.
Margarita Pintado Burgos Ph.D.: I think the most important skills have remained the same for a while, and they will continue to be prevalent in the near future. To read well, to synthesize information, to interpret content with a critical eye, to serve as bridge between different groups of peoples and cultures, to create compelling content, to offer diverse perspectives, to discern (for example) between fake news and real news, are some of the skills I think will be prevalent in the next 3-5 years.
Margarita Pintado Burgos Ph.D.: A degree in Romance Languages, Literature and Linguistics equips you with plenty of tools to succeed in a variety of job opportunities. Thus, a general advice for recent graduates starting their careers, would be to remain open and to exploit as much as possible their skills, knowing that multilingualism, cross-cultural communication, reading and thinking critically, writing effectively, etc. are in high demand, especially considering the general decline of such skills in today's society.
Dr. Geri Merrigan: Listening, empathy, and perspective-taking remain as important as ever, because change is the only certainty, and globalization connects us to people quite different from ourselves. That means skills for inclusive communication matter – analyzing an audience and crafting messages for diverse stakeholders. Finally, understanding the technology (especially AI) that is most consequential for your industry/sector, for Communication Studies majors, means understanding current events, reading about AI, and evaluating the credibility of what you read.