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The differences between public relations and public relations consultants 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 relations consultant. Additionally, a public relations consultant has an average salary of $50,333, 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 relations consultant are press releases, web content, and strategic communications.
| Public Relations | Public Relations Consultant | |
| Yearly salary | $48,383 | $50,333 |
| Hourly rate | $23.26 | $24.20 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 22,721 | 27,882 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 81% |
| 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.
A public relations consultant represents an organization and is the company's way to communicate to the public their plans, decisions, and motivations. They both advertise and show the company's personality and create familiarity and trust. The public relations consultant's role is to create all the PR materials needed to accomplish these goals. It means writing press releases, online content, speeches, and also working with the marketing and advertising team to create copy that will evoke the interest of the public. The ultimate goal is to gain customers and thus increase sales.
Public relations and public relations consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Public Relations | Public Relations Consultant | |
| Average salary | $48,383 | $50,333 |
| Salary range | Between $32,000 And $72,000 | Between $29,000 And $85,000 |
| Highest paying City | Richmond, VA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Virginia | Washington |
| Best paying company | Edelman Financial Engines | AbbVie |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Media |
There are a few differences between a public relations and a public relations consultant in terms of educational background:
| Public Relations | Public Relations Consultant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 81% |
| Most common major | Communication | Communication |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between public relations' and public relations consultants' demographics:
| Public Relations | Public Relations Consultant | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 36.1% Female, 63.9% | Male, 33.3% Female, 66.7% |
| 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, 10.2% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.1% Asian, 5.3% White, 66.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 12% |