What Does a Public Relations Do?

We looked at the average public relations annual salary and compared it with the average of a social media internship. Generally speaking, social media interns receive $17,238 lower pay than public relations per year.

Even though public relations and social media interns have vast differences in their careers, a few of the skills required to do both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require press releases, web content, and event planning in the day-to-day roles.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A public relations responsibility is more likely to require skills like "facebook," "blog posts," "photography," and "public speaking." Whereas a social media internship requires skills like "facebook insights," "social media marketing," "pinterest," and "hootsuite." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

Social media interns tend to make the most money in the education industry by averaging a salary of $33,136. In contrast, public relations make the biggest average salary of $56,027 in the professional industry.

On average, social media interns reach similar levels of education than public relations. Social media interns are 3.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Next up, we have the senior communications specialist profession to look over. This career brings along a higher average salary when compared to a public relations annual salary. In fact, senior communications specialists salary difference is $30,565 higher than the salary of public relations per year.

Not everything about these jobs is different. Take their skills, for example. Public relations and senior communications specialists both include similar skills like "press releases," "web content," and "facebook" on their resumes.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, several resumes showed us that public relations responsibilities requires skills like "blog posts," "photography," "instagram," and "content marketing." But a senior communications specialist might use skills, such as, "project management," "strategic communications," "patients," and "corporate communications."

Senior communications specialists may earn a higher salary than public relations, but senior communications specialists earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $85,027. On the other side of things, public relations receive higher paychecks in the professional industry where they earn an average of $56,027.

On the topic of education, senior communications specialists earn similar levels of education than public relations. In general, they're 4.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

The third profession we take a look at is government relations internship. On an average scale, these workers bring in lower salaries than public relations. In fact, they make a $13,705 lower salary per year.

Using public relations and government relations interns resumes, we found that both professions have similar skills such as "press releases," "facebook," and "event planning," but the other skills required are very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers are a few of the skills necessary to fulfill responsibilities. Some examples from public relations resumes include skills like "web content," "photography," "graphic design," and "content marketing," whereas a government relations internship might be skilled in "internship program," "public policy," "donor database," and "government affairs. "

Additionally, government relations interns earn a higher salary in the media industry compared to other industries. In this industry, they receive an average salary of $36,341. Additionally, public relations earn an average salary of $56,027 in the professional industry.

When it comes to education, government relations interns tend to earn similar education levels than public relations. In fact, they're 1.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Communications coordinators tend to earn a lower pay than public relations by about $1,308 per year.

While both public relations and communications coordinators complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like press releases, web content, and facebook, the two careers also vary in other skills.

Each job requires different skills like "photography," "public speaking," "market research," and "business development," which might show up on a public relations resume. Whereas communications coordinator might include skills like "customer service," "patients," "community engagement," and "project management."

Now, let's take a closer look at the financials in each career. The government industry tends to pay more for communications coordinators with an average of $46,362. While the highest public relations annual salary comes from the professional industry.

In general, communications coordinators reach similar levels of education when compared to public relations resumes. Communications coordinators are 4.5% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.