How To Become A Social Media And Public Relations: What It Is and Career Path

What is a social media and public relations and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Stefanie Leiter,

Dr. Tom Hallaq

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a social media and public relations. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.68 an hour? That's $49,255 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 22,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a social media and public relations?

Stefanie Leiter

Assistant Professor of Public Relations, Anderson University

My advice is for students to start connecting early via LinkedIn. Years ago, employers looked at GPAs or resumes. Now, they are wondering who you know and what you did to excel in your program before your career.

ScoreSocial Media And Public RelationsUS Average

Salary

3.8

Avg. Salary $49,255

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.59%

Asian 5.30%

Black or African American 10.06%

Hispanic or Latino 11.95%

Unknown 5.09%

White 67.02%

Gender

female 68.88%

male 31.12%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a social media and public relations

Explore social media and public relations education requirements

Most common social media and public relations degrees

Bachelor's

77.2 %

Master's

13.2 %

Associate

4.4 %

Start to develop specific social media and public relations skills

Skills	Percentages
Press Releases	22.15%
Content Creation	11.02%
Instagram	10.92%
Content Strategy	9.95%
YouTube	7.63%

Complete relevant social media and public relations training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New social media and public relations learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a social media and public relations based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real social media and public relations resumes.

Research social media and public relations duties and responsibilities

Help manage the Concrete2Green official blog and create multimedia PowerPoint presentations for promotional purposes
Implement a social media strategy to enhance customer response through blogging.
Develop and maintain B2C relationships through written correspondence, email and social media.
Select and compile daily news clips for internal dissemination and prepare statistical reports for release to media.

Prepare your social media and public relations resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your social media and public relations resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a social media and public relations resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable social media and public relations resume templates

Build a professional social media and public relations resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your social media and public relations resume.