Companies hire service providers for needs outside of their business as usual. These may include business requirements that are only needed during specific periods, such as product launches, publishing write-ups, or even award ceremonies. For such types of activities, companies hire public relations firms to handle the publicity requirements, and those public relations firms assign public relations account executives to handle specific clients.
Public relations account executives are assigned specific clients based on their experience or area of expertise. They craft public relations write-ups, coordinate with media, and create and implement the communication plan. They are also in charge of briefing involved suppliers. Public relations account executives also conduct regular meetings with their clients. This helps them ensure that they are on the same page as their clients. It also helps them assess the feasibility of the client's vision and gives them the opportunity to discuss action plans.
If you enjoy public relations and client management, working as an account executive is right up your alley. Should you pursue this career, you will need to build credibility with your clients and you will need to create a good reputation.
What is a Public Relations Account Executive?
What Does a Public Relations Account Executive Do
There are certain skills that many public relations account executives have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, organizational skills and problem-solving skills.
How To Become a Public Relations Account Executive
If you're interested in becoming a public relations account executive, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 85.9% of public relations account executives have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 8.6% of public relations account executives have master's degrees. Even though most public relations account executives have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Public Relations Account Executive Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of account executive you might progress to a role such as marketing manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title regional marketing manager.
Average Salary for a Public Relations Account Executive
What Am I Worth?
Top Colleges for Public Relations Account Executives
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
2. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
3. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Private
4. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
5. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Private
6. University of Houston
Houston, TX • Private
7. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
8. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Private
9. Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY • Private
10. University of Georgia
Athens, GA • Private
Top Skills For a Public Relations Account Executive
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 26.5% of public relations account executives listed press releases on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and organizational skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Public Relations Account Executive Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Public Relations Account Executive templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Public Relations Account Executive resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Public Relations Account Executive Demographics
Public Relations Account Executive Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among public relations account executives, 70.7% of them are women, while 29.3% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among public relations account executives is White, which makes up 73.1% of all public relations account executives.
- The most common foreign language among public relations account executives is Spanish at 47.6%.
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Best States For a Public Relations Account Executive
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a public relations account executive. The best states for people in this position are Virginia, Washington, Connecticut, and Oregon. Public relations account executives make the most in Virginia with an average salary of $73,372. Whereas in Washington and Connecticut, they would average $68,952 and $67,876, respectively. While public relations account executives would only make an average of $67,859 in Oregon, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Virginia
$73,372
Avg. Salary
2. Washington
$68,952
Avg. Salary
3. Connecticut
$67,876
Avg. Salary
How Do Public Relations Account Executive Rate Their Jobs?
Top Public Relations Account Executive Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ public relations account executives and discovered their number of public relations account executive opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Weber Shandwick was the best, especially with an average salary of $62,105. Hill+Knowlton Strategies follows up with an average salary of $50,130, and then comes Ruder Finn with an average of $62,419. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a public relations account executive. The employers include Matter, greenroommv.com, and Wpp Us Holdings Inc
Most Common Employers For Public Relations Account Executive
| Rank  | Company  | Average Salary  | Hourly Rate  | Job Openings  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MMM Holdings, Inc. | $76,058 | $36.57 | 3 |
| 2 | Lopez Negrete Communications | $70,190 | $33.75 | 4 |
| 3 | We Communications | $62,571 | $30.08 | 5 |
| 4 | Ruder Finn | $62,419 | $30.01 | 6 |
| 5 | Weber Shandwick | $62,105 | $29.86 | 11 |
| 6 | Osborn Barr Paramore | $61,117 | $29.38 | 4 |
| 7 | Young & Rubicam | $59,340 | $28.53 | 4 |
| 8 | Gibbs Truck Centers | $58,696 | $28.22 | 4 |
| 9 | Leo Burnett | $58,416 | $28.08 | 4 |
| 10 | Boston University | $58,382 | $28.07 | 3 |
Public Relations Account Executive Videos
