How To Become A Public Relations Associate: What It Is and Career Path

What is a public relations associate and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Stefanie Leiter,

Jody McBrien

Public relations associates generate business through marketing and promotional initiatives. A PR associate is responsible for maintaining media lists for targeted launches, managing previews, and managing blogger relations. Plus, they assist in planning and executing public relations programs, providing support to the marketing department to identify industry trends, and developing key communications. A PR associate also researches the target market, updates social media with the company promotion information, and interacts with customers to facilitate marketing and sales initiatives. They coordinate the flow of information, respond to customer's questions, and reinforce the company's strategic plan.

The educational qualification of a PR associate is a bachelor's degree in public relations communication, marketing, business, or other relevant fields. In addition to education, you should have administrative work experience, communication, and problem-solving skills. Also, attention to detail and the ability to meet up deadlines are required. The public relations associate's average annual salary is $39,326.

What general advice would you give to a public relations associate?

Stefanie Leiter

Assistant Professor of Public Relations, Anderson University

My advice is for students to start connecting early via LinkedIn. Years ago, employers looked at GPAs or resumes. Now, they are wondering who you know and what you did to excel in your program before your career.

ScorePublic Relations AssociateUS Average

Salary

3.8

Avg. Salary $48,953

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 5.35%

Black or African American 10.38%

Hispanic or Latino 12.24%

Unknown 5.12%

White 66.32%

Gender

female 70.51%

male 29.49%

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 a public relations associate

Explore public relations associate education requirements

Most common public relations associate degrees

Bachelor's

82.7 %

Master's

7.7 %

Associate

5.9 %

Start to develop specific public relations associate skills

Skills	Percentages
Press Releases	21.99%
Web Content	6.13%
Facebook	5.12%
Twitter	5.07%
PowerPoint	5.05%

Complete relevant public relations associate training and internships

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

Research public relations associate duties and responsibilities

Conduct SEO strategy to drive traffic in order to develop a competitive advantage.
Manage public affairs and media efforts including writing and placing op-eds and mobilizing editorial campaigns.
Coordinate with managers to tweet daily specials and promotions, as well as maintain the Facebook page.
Work on affiliate marketing plan, as well as planned and implement company's first SEO strategy.

Prepare your public relations associate resume

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

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