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The differences between public relations and public affairs 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 relations and a public affairs specialist. Additionally, a public affairs specialist has an average salary of $66,383, which is higher than the $48,383 average annual salary of a public relations.
The top three skills for a public relations include press releases, web content and facebook. The most important skills for a public affairs specialist are news stories, veterans, and fact sheets.
| Public Relations | Public Affairs Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $48,383 | $66,383 |
| Hourly rate | $23.26 | $31.91 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 22,721 | 19,889 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
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.
Psychology research assistants take charge of the operational and administrative tasks like mailing surveys, summarizing results, and managing correspondence. The research assistants identify the areas in need of improvement and score psychological tests. They prepare the interview questions and summarize test results. Their job involves responding to research-related emails and take part in project meetings. Also, they update the content of websites and prepare reports of their progress. The skills they need in carrying out this job include communication, critical thinking, attention to detail, and technical skills.
Public relations and public affairs specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Public Relations | Public Affairs Specialist | |
| Average salary | $48,383 | $66,383 |
| Salary range | Between $32,000 And $72,000 | Between $43,000 And $102,000 |
| Highest paying City | Richmond, VA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Virginia | Virginia |
| Best paying company | Edelman Financial Engines | |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Government |
There are a few differences between a public relations and a public affairs specialist in terms of educational background:
| Public Relations | Public Affairs Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Most common major | Communication | Communication |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between public relations' and public affairs specialists' demographics:
| Public Relations | Public Affairs Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 36.1% Female, 63.9% | Male, 47.2% Female, 52.8% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 5.3% White, 66.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 12% |