4 Things To Know Before Starting A Public Relations Career

Reading Time: ~3 Mins | Written by: Emma Whiten

So, you want to start a career in public relations?

First off – great choice! Not only have you chosen a great career path, but you are setting yourself up to learn a variety of skills that can be used across various industries and types of work. Starting a public relations career is all about communication, a valuable skill set that will set you up for success in many aspects of your life!

Before you jump into the industry, there are a few important things that every prospective PR professional should be aware of. Here are my top 4 “must know” aspects of working in public relations:

Rejection is a Daily Occurence

If you don’t handle rejection well, maybe it’s time to consider a new career path. A large part of PR is pitching and cold-calling media and publications to find a fit for your client. While this can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience, it can also be very draining and tiring. For every 10 pitches we send, it is typically only one or two that get picked up (if that).  While the rejection has less to do with you and more to do with the nature of the industry, working in public relations involves a lot of effort and little reward. If you can handle hearing the word no regularly, then you might just enjoy pitching and working with the media.

It’s All About Relationships

Building, maintaining and managing relationships is what PR is all about. As mentioned in my point above, working with the media can involve a lot of rejection and closed doors. By building relationships with these media contacts, we can begin to increase our opportunities and have a better rapport with our contacts. If a journalist recognizes your name and trusts your credibility, they are more likely to respond and potentially feature your clients. These relationships take a long time to build and are very valuable. A good PR person means a strong (and effective) social network. 

Good Things Take Time

We touched on this in the points above, but it deserves a point of its own. Whether it’s pitching a client to media publications or building media relationships, everything in PR takes time. Very rarely do we have instant results and outcomes of our work. The role requires a lot of patience and is not suited for those who love constant response and adrenaline. Some agencies specialize in crisis and fast-paced communications, but typically PR is a slower-paced grind. Read more about the patience involved in PR to learn a bit more about this!

Working Hours are Flexible

PR Professionals must be flexible in their available working hours. While many of us can stick to our typical office hours, there is always the potential call for after-hours or weekend responsibilities. Working with clients and media publications means that we need to be available based on their times and needs rather than our one. By having set boundaries, we can reduce the outcomes of this, but in some cases, such as interviews in different time zones, we must be willing to work outside of our typical routine.