Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between public affairs interns and communications specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a public affairs internship and a communications specialist. Additionally, a communications specialist has an average salary of $51,023, which is higher than the $31,924 average annual salary of a public affairs internship.
The top three skills for a public affairs internship include public affairs, press releases and powerpoint. The most important skills for a communications specialist are customer service, powerpoint, and patients.
| Public Affairs Internship | Communications Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $31,924 | $51,023 |
| Hourly rate | $15.35 | $24.53 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 57,898 | 42,819 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A public affairs intern is responsible for performing administrative duties to support the public affairs operations on media relations and developing strategies to maintain the department's integrity for social responsibility. Public affairs interns assist with press releases, community programs, and dissemination of information to the public. They also check the communication techniques, ensuring that the approach reaches the target audience, as well as responding to the public's inquiries and concerns and escalating complaints. A public affairs intern must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially on data processing and publishing accurate content on different medium platforms.
A communications specialist takes charge of addressing the public by coming up with various strategic campaigns, newsletters, public correspondence, press releases, and advertisements. Their primary role focuses on promoting, shaping, and enhancing a brand's image through public relations. Furthermore, a communications specialist is responsible for handling any complaints or issues, devising and conducting damage control to resolve bad publicity should there be any. It is also essential for a communications specialist to adhere to the company's policies and regulations at all times.
Public affairs interns and communications specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Public Affairs Internship | Communications Specialist | |
| Average salary | $31,924 | $51,023 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $40,000 | Between $36,000 And $71,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | - | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | - | |
| Best paying industry | - | Technology |
There are a few differences between a public affairs internship and a communications specialist in terms of educational background:
| Public Affairs Internship | Communications Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Political Science | Communication |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between public affairs interns' and communications specialists' demographics:
| Public Affairs Internship | Communications Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 36.4% Female, 63.6% | Male, 42.9% Female, 57.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 5.4% White, 66.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% | Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 11.9% Asian, 5.3% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 12% |