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Public relations director vs assistant director, communications

The differences between public relations directors and assistant directors, communications can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a public relations director, becoming an assistant director, communications takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a public relations director has an average salary of $94,692, which is higher than the $54,965 average annual salary of an assistant director, communications.

The top three skills for a public relations director include press releases, web content and pr campaigns. The most important skills for an assistant director, communications are customer service, property management, and professional development.

Public relations director vs assistant director, communications overview

Public Relations DirectorAssistant Director, Communications
Yearly salary$94,692$54,965
Hourly rate$45.52$26.43
Growth rate8%3%
Number of jobs31,69336,340
Job satisfaction5-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 81%Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Average age4248
Years of experience46

What does a public relations director do?

A public relations director is an individual who is employed to design and implement marketing strategies that can cultivate the relationship between a company and the media. Public relations directors collaborate with the internal team to boost brand awareness and maximize brand consistency in all advertising efforts. They must arrange interviews and press releases so that they can promote their company and its products or services. They also maintain relationships with the media and should manage sensitive issues to maintain the company's good reputation.

What does an assistant director, communications do?

An assistant communications director is responsible for managing the communicative operations across the company, handling the dissemination of information among employees, and releasing management announcements to media platforms. Assistant communications directors draft project techniques and strategies, as well as monitoring social media contents and press releases. They also identify business opportunities by analyzing recent trends that would generate more revenue resources and increase the company's profits. An assistant communications director must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in assessing business information to prevent miscommunications and negative publications.

Public relations director vs assistant director, communications salary

Public relations directors and assistant directors, communications have different pay scales, as shown below.

Public Relations DirectorAssistant Director, Communications
Average salary$94,692$54,965
Salary rangeBetween $59,000 And $150,000Between $30,000 And $100,000
Highest paying CityNapa, CABoston, MA
Highest paying stateNevadaConnecticut
Best paying companyExelixisPace University
Best paying industryInternetGovernment

Differences between public relations director and assistant director, communications education

There are a few differences between a public relations director and an assistant director, communications in terms of educational background:

Public Relations DirectorAssistant Director, Communications
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 81%Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Most common majorCommunicationBusiness
Most common collegeStanford UniversityUniversity of Southern California

Public relations director vs assistant director, communications demographics

Here are the differences between public relations directors' and assistant directors, communications' demographics:

Public Relations DirectorAssistant Director, Communications
Average age4248
Gender ratioMale, 35.9% Female, 64.1%Male, 34.1% Female, 65.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 5.1% White, 74.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.2% Asian, 5.2% White, 64.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage16%12%

Differences between public relations director and assistant director, communications duties and responsibilities

Public relations director example responsibilities.

  • Manage internal agency public relations, blog content and twitter account.
  • Hire, train and manage play-by-play broadcasters guaranteeing a professional and informative listening experience.
  • Maintain strong working relationships across all departments to manage successful on-site opportunities, content and multimedia asset development and spokesperson requests.
  • Assist in development-relate alumni campaigns and event planning.
  • Keep running list and archive information regarding NCAA commitments.
  • Compile statistics and update game notes, player biographies, player and team statistics.
  • Show more

Assistant director, communications example responsibilities.

  • Manage and develop marketing, communication, and implementation process improvements for training curricula and the department's intranet website.
  • Increase Facebook followers from 100,000 to 300,000 by identifying and engaging supporters.
  • Engineer a statewide network of local Facebook groups that enable the campaign to easily communicate with supporters across the state.
  • Create and update an eye-catching, interactive Instagram account in order to keepall families aware of all camp activities and events.
  • Serve as representative to senior management team during community events and company spokesperson for division, including to nonprofit sector clients.
  • Develop best-in-class trade show presence that always generate positive ROI, in addition.
  • Show more

Public relations director vs assistant director, communications skills

Common public relations director skills
  • Press Releases, 19%
  • Web Content, 9%
  • Pr Campaigns, 5%
  • Facebook, 4%
  • Crisis Communications, 4%
  • Twitter, 3%
Common assistant director, communications skills
  • Customer Service, 13%
  • Property Management, 7%
  • Professional Development, 7%
  • Alumni, 6%
  • Photoshop, 5%
  • Graphic Design, 5%

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