How To Become An Executive Relations Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is an executive relations specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Brooke Witherow

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an executive relations specialist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.88 an hour? That's $51,756 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 22,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an executive relations specialist?

Brooke Witherow

Assistant Professor of Communication Arts, Hood College

In public relations, the need for professionals with skills in AI and data analysis continues to grow. AI can be a powerful tool when harnessed well. Recent graduates who understand when and how to use AI will be in high demand. AI's issues with accuracy and bias also highlight the importance of having a PR professional who understands the limitations and challenges of AI just as well as its potential.

A skill that remains important, even with the advent of AI, is writing. When I speak with public relations agencies, one of the most frequently desired skills in recent graduates is strong writing. Part of that is being able to effectively tell a story across a wide variety of channels and to diverse audiences.

Lastly, I always recommend being a life-long learner. Life-long learners are curious and driven. They are not only open to learning new skills and strategies, they actively seek them out. Life-long learners constantly ask questions and use their research skills to find the answers. Learning new technologies, skills and strategies will also help PR professionals create innovative campaigns and navigate major changes in the field.

ScoreExecutive Relations SpecialistUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $51,756

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.59%

Asian 5.32%

Black or African American 10.19%

Hispanic or Latino 12.07%

Unknown 5.10%

White 66.73%

Gender

female 59.93%

male 40.07%

Age - 40

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 - 40

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an executive relations specialist

Explore executive relations specialist education requirements

Most common executive relations specialist degrees

Bachelor's

69.1 %

Master's

12.5 %

Associate

10.5 %

Start to develop specific executive relations specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Government Officials	16.68%
Customer Complaints	12.05%
Infectious Disease	7.64%
Sales Procedures	6.77%
Business Bureau	4.68%

Complete relevant executive relations specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New executive relations specialists 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 an executive relations specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real executive relations specialist resumes.

Research executive relations specialist duties and responsibilities

Manage content development and oversee content consistency on web site by completing editing and proofreading activities.
Design and develop a SharePoint library for new hires.
Impact psychiatric marketplace in dementia, adult & child ADHD segments.
Provide corporate responses to consumer, FCC and state inquiries on behalf of the company.

Get executive relations specialist experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become an executive relations specialist. The most common roles before becoming an executive relations specialist include sales representative, customer service representative team lead and specialist.

Prepare your executive relations specialist resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable executive relations specialist resume templates

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