Public Relations Officer Overview
Working as a Public Relations Officer
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a public relations officer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $22.53 an hour? That's $46,869 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 17,300 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Public Relations Officer Do
There are certain skills that many public relations officers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed speaking skills, writing skills and interpersonal skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a public relations officer, we found that a lot of resumes listed 19.8% of public relations officers included press releases, while 12.1% of resumes included web content, and 7.6% of resumes included facebook. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the public relations officer job title. But what industry to start with? Most public relations officers actually find jobs in the education and non profits industries.
How To Become a Public Relations Officer
If you're interested in becoming a public relations officer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 64.7% of public relations officers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 16.2% of public relations officers have master's degrees. Even though most public relations officers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a public relations officer. When we researched the most common majors for a public relations officer, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on public relations officer resumes include associate degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a public relations officer. In fact, many public relations officer jobs require experience in a role such as internship. Meanwhile, many public relations officers also have previous career experience in roles such as volunteer or sales associate.
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Public Relations Officer Jobs
Public Relations Officer Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of secretary you might progress to a role such as consultant eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title director of communications and marketing.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Public Relations Officer
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
City of Baltimore, Md Public Relations Officer Public Relations Officer | City of Baltimore, Md City of Baltimore, Md | 12/26/2019 12/26/2019 | $62,17112/26/2019 $62,171 |
Smartax Group Inc. Public Relations Officer Public Relations Officer | Smartax Group Inc. Smartax Group Inc. | 09/18/2019 09/18/2019 | $50,00009/18/2019 $50,000 |
Smartax Group Inc. Public Relations Officer Public Relations Officer | Smartax Group Inc. Smartax Group Inc. | 09/17/2019 09/17/2019 | $52,00009/17/2019 $52,000 |
Miami Design Preservation League Architectural Conservation PR & Marketing Officer Architectural Conservation PR & Marketing Officer | Miami Design Preservation League Miami Design Preservation League | 08/16/2019 08/16/2019 | $48,19408/16/2019 $48,194 |
University of California Public Relations Officer Public Relations Officer | University of California University of California | 07/19/2019 07/19/2019 | $58,10407/19/2019 $58,104 |
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Public Relations Officer Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Public Relations Officer. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Public Relations Officer Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Public Relations Officer resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Public Relations Officers
1. Stanford University
Stanford, CA
2. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL
3. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA
4. University of Houston
Houston, TX
5. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
6. Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY
7. Villanova University
Villanova, PA
8. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA
9. Bentley University
Waltham, MA
10. Marquette University
Milwaukee, WI
Entry Level Jobs For Becoming A Public Relations Officer
Top Skills For a Public Relations Officer
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 19.8% of public relations officers listed press releases on their resume, but soft skills such as speaking skills and writing skills are important as well.
- Press Releases, 22.0%
- Graphic Design, 15.4%
- Facebook, 7.0%
- Twitter, 4.0%
- Instagram, 3.4%
- Other Skills, 48.2% See All Public Relations Officer Skills
Best States For a Public Relations Officer
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a public relations officer. The best states for people in this position are Connecticut, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington. Public relations officers make the most in Connecticut with an average salary of $53,843. Whereas in Virginia and Maryland, they would average $51,877 and $51,661, respectively. While public relations officers would only make an average of $51,627 in Washington, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. District of Columbia
$69,562
Avg. Salary
2. Maryland
$51,661
Avg. Salary
3. Washington
$51,627
Avg. Salary
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