To think PR is a very easy job?

[Lifeismagic]

I’m thinking of applying for a junior PR role in a multi national corporation. AIBU to think there’s not much to the job and I should be able to do it? It’s not exactly rocket science is it? Or is there something I’m missing? I’ve never worked in PR before

PR requires the ability to sell and persuade - even in-house you need this as you will likely be pitching to journalists and this can be a real slog.

You will need to be an excellent writer, financially literate if in a plc (you’ll need to “get” financial results), resilient, calm under pressure and someone who enjoys working in a fast-paced environment.

It isn’t an easy job. Reputations have a value, getting it wrong can cost companies huge amounts of money.

Lots of people think because they can write and speak they are going to be brilliant at communications jobs. That isn’t generally the case, certainly no more so than having teeth means you’d be a good dentist 😬

There is a wealth of podcasts on the matter and I’d suggest listening to some and really understanding what PR is before you think of going to an interview.

It depends on your personality type. I could never do it in a million years. I like facts and figures, hate sales chat or socialising with strangers, being a lawyer works for me. But if you like parties, heavy drinking, and inane chat with strangers then PR might be up your street.

Caveat: am not in PR 🤣 But I have met people who are and this is my strong impression of what’s required!

So my point is that it depends what type of work you enjoy whether PR feels easy or hideous.

@Lifeismagic

So you have 0 relevant experience

Worked in retail previously

Are 29 so pretty old to be in the position you are in and still think it will be easy and yo

And you can learn on the job!?

Even jnr positions will require some experience

I don't think you need a qualification but you need to be able to give relevant examples of actual experience at interview.
Eg
"Well ms PR boss I want to work in PR because I write my own travel blog which has enabled me to make some great travel media contacts which would benefit this role. I've been able to monitor the blogs success through the website analytics, social media following and interaction with my content.
At the moment I've been researching ethical and sustainable travel and how that fits with the industry. I've also interviewed these local tourist guides and got a mention in the press for a survey I did on staycationing."

Have you matched your skills to the job spec? Are there any gaps?

Lol
I think that sounds more like celebrity agency PR!

I was coming on to say that the best PRs are all over the technical detail of their subject matter- obviously that’s all about the organisation that they represent and what it does, but they need to be able to talk with authority about the industry as a whole they are in, the trends in it, the major players in it.
So ‘travel’ like ‘food’ or ‘politics’ is in fact broken down into lots of smaller niches that make you employable as a PR in your specialised niche. Starting out, you need to get yourself as much employment experience as possible and to try to make it point towards a PR niche that might be of interest to you in the long run. Like crisis management, as a PP mentioned.

I have worked in this industry for 22 years - agency and in-house.

PR is very difficult to get into. It is strategic, creative and relationships-based.

Have a look at the websites of the two industry bodies - the CIPR and the PRCA. These will give you a feel for the industry, the job and what will be expected of you.

Most PRs have learned on the job. Yes there are degrees but most good PRs have degrees in English, psychology, business studies or PPE. Possibly with a journalism diploma on top.

Having said that, CPD is very much expected and that’s where the industry bodies can help you.

Good luck OP. A career in PR is challenging but also rewarding and interesting.

No. Only a tiny minority of celebrity agents do that.
I've worked on bad news and there's a specific set of skills required and approaches to take with the media to ethically do the best you can for your client.

I’m a journo and have always thought PR seems like a really hard thankless job.

It must be so hard to get anything picked up and sound excited about tiny non events. Our inbox is full of thousands of people jerking into the void -“hi, just checking you got my press release”.

Also must be stressful when someone’s uncovered something negative and needs a response within 15 mins.

Oh okay, I saw it once somewhere but didn’t think it was true to be honest. What are the skills and approaches if you don’t mind me asking please? Thank you so much in advance, feel free to message if you don’t want to share on here

"PR is so easy, I can't even convince a bunch of people anonymously that I am capable of doing it." 😂

If it's entry-level, then you'll be able to learn on the job. If not then - I mean you won't even get an interview unless you lie on your CV so it's a moot point.

And yes obviously part of PR is avoiding negative stories, and that sometimes means agreeing to other stories that you might not have agreed to otherwise. Surprisingly, journalists aren't there thinking "how can I manage to print yet another positive story about this amazing multi-national corporation" as much as they are going "how can I get an exclusive about how shit they are"...

Fab thank you so much for this, I will look into all of this, thank you so much for the advice.

Is there any chance I can message you with some questions I have about the job? No worries if not

It is an entry level job. I’m going to have a good read through all the advice in this thread and take note of it all and do some more research before any interview

In-house PR you need to work closely with all of the marketing team. Your company will run many campaigns a year and PR will be part of that. Such as the lead up to the holiday season you might submit bylines on "5 things you must pack if you're going on a beach holiday." You'll need to understand about SEO, target audiences and personas etc. Your audience will be across trade media, national media and potentially others.

Then you have formal press releases which might be about your earnings, or new hires.

In addition you will be ready to do news hijacking if something topical comes up, so it's a mix of drum beat and reactive stories.

Most is planned out, it's not all reactive all guns blazing phone calls.

Yep.
I once had a news at 10 camera crew arrive in reception for a comment on an extremely bad piece of news, without any pre warning - dawn raids.
Calls from the news of the world at 9pm on a Friday night.
And then a shouting at when the Guardian won't feature a local jumble sale...

One of my jobs was in the marketing team for a retailer (not a huge one), there were 4 of us in the marketing team and we had a PR agency on a retainer but we did all the day to day stuff.

It was not easy.

I spent my days writing press releases and trying to "sell" them to relevant magazines, papers and websites. Trying to build my reputation and relationship with key players at each place so they would think of us when they were writing a relevant article. Answering (often ridiculous) questions from journalists and students and school children doing projects. Vetting any email or written responses to external bodies from other members of staff. Crisis management when a negative story hit the press.

All along with all my other responsibilities. It's full on, hustle hustle hustle, constant schmoozing and relationship building, very sales-y. I didn't enjoy it much, and it certainly wasn't "very easy".

OP seems to have the idea she;ll be sitting filing her nails waiting for someone to call her from the Times and it's so not like that.

Not being able to communicate effectively is not ideal for someone intending to pursue a career in PR.

I’ve worked client-side and agency-side, and am now a lecturer teaching PR and marketing at undergraduate level. Sure, it’s a very easy job - you’ll walk in. 🤷🏻‍♀️

You’re not qualified, have no experience and don’t know what the job involves, yet you assume that it can’t be that hard. AIBU to think this is a goady thread?

I have a friend who has risen up the ranks successfully in PR. She’s very intelligent, a brilliant writer, she knows everyone, is excellent at cultivating relationships, and she is always out. She also doesn’t get paid nearly enough.

If you think you have all those skills then go for it.

I worked as a Press Officer for a few years and then as a Communications Manager.

To work in PR you need to be able to write well and for a variety of audiences. I had to draft press releases, articles, website content, campaign material and social media posts.

I worked in the health and disability sector so we had to be able to understand medical research findings and turn complex research papers into easy to understand news stories.

Also if you are involved in PR crisis management you are the person who will need to sort out the mess when your organisation is facing a risk to their reputation ( anything from bad press, staff going on strike, redundancies...) and spin something positive to journalists. You only have to think about what the government press staff has to come up with to try to spin ministers out of the current mess to think about how stressful that side of the role can be....

We regularly worked on projects with politicians (I did a campaign that involved Boris Johnson taking part in one of our events to my eternal shame...) and big corporate companies as well as celebrities so you also need to get on with a wide range of people.

Usually you also have to provide out of hour cover on a rota as journalists will call you at weekends and the evenings to get a quote or to ask question about a story that you sent out.

Frankly it is not the easiest of job and it does not just involve making friends with a few journalists and smiling at events....

Also some companies don't usually rate their PR and comms teams that much but they still expect to see themselves in the papers and magazines regularly so there is a lot of pressure to deliver.

I do have fond memories of it and it was interesting to work with so many of the national papers but after a while I really did not like being on call and got bored with the unrealistic expectations of senior management.

Managing bad news depends on what it is.
Basic rules are don't minimise, don't cover up, but don't be proactive and spill your guts.
Anything crime related and you need to be working closely with the police press office and your own legal team.
Spokespersons should already be trained properly. You sit in on interviews and butt in if the questions are unfair or cannot be reasonably answered.
Same PR teams do simulations of relevant potential issues like a natural disaster, accident or emergency.

It's that typical job that semi-bright middle class women who went to Nottingham University have.