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The differences between external relations directors and public relations can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an external relations director and a public relations. Additionally, an external relations director has an average salary of $130,849, which is higher than the $48,383 average annual salary of a public relations.
The top three skills for an external relations director include project management, external relations and oversight. The most important skills for a public relations are press releases, web content, and facebook.
| External Relations Director | Public Relations | |
| Yearly salary | $130,849 | $48,383 |
| Hourly rate | $62.91 | $23.26 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 22,848 | 22,721 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
An external relations director is responsible for helping a company or entity establish good public relations by creating a good market perception. The professional's responsibilities include giving communications counseling to the leadership team and ensuring compliance with appropriate facility conditions and sanitation standards. The job requires good communication, leadership, and organizational skills to accomplish such responsibilities. The job's education requirements include possessing a college degree in business, public relations, marketing, or other related fields.
Public relations is a strategic way of developing and maintaining a client's or company's public image through media coverage, appearances, and press releases by designing and developing events to raise funds or to spread awareness to the public regarding products, brands, or individuals. It involves research and evaluation of programs including financial, marketing, employee, or government relations using topics of public interest and news items. Due to our present technological innovations, public relations now use webinars, blogs, and downloadable resources under one convenient website.
External relations directors and public relations have different pay scales, as shown below.
| External Relations Director | Public Relations | |
| Average salary | $130,849 | $48,383 |
| Salary range | Between $82,000 And $208,000 | Between $32,000 And $72,000 |
| Highest paying City | Davis, CA | Richmond, VA |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | Virginia |
| Best paying company | Phoenix Children's | Edelman Financial Engines |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Professional |
There are a few differences between an external relations director and a public relations in terms of educational background:
| External Relations Director | Public Relations | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Most common major | Business | Communication |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between external relations directors' and public relations' demographics:
| External Relations Director | Public Relations | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 44.1% Female, 55.9% | Male, 36.1% Female, 63.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 5.1% White, 74.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 11.9% Asian, 5.3% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 12% |