-SKILLS IN PUBLIC RELATIONS: Our book presents several different skills, like Kevin Dugan advises, that are useful and sometimes necessary to receive a job in the Public Relations field:
1. learn to write like a reporter (good writing skills in general)
-I believe this is the most important aspect from what I know about communication because most people tend to communicate through some sort of written work.
2. be inquisitive (you need to know a little about lots of topics)
-There are so many different types of Public Relation’s responsibilities to have to do a job one day with translating computer terms to lamen’s terms to help the buyer’s understand more about a product. The next day a PR practitioner might have to talk with a company about how to make the city have more respect for their company. These two completely different types of jobs prove that being inquisitive and knowing about various areas is important in a PR career!
3. show common sense (they don’t teach common sense in school)
-When interacting with people face to face a lot of times it is not about numbers or the history of a company, it is just plain conversation skills.
4. be committed (are not just 9-5 hours)
-With a career in Public Relations I have learned that it is not just a certain amount of hours you have to put in to get a job done. Especially with all of these blogs we have been reading it is easy to understand that to keep your reputation and get your name out in the PR field, you must constantly be working.
5. be an expert (have to have a certain passion)
-I guess if no one had a passion or a certain area of expertise everyone would just have the same PR background. To stand above and to get hired in this career you must have something that sets you apart from the competition.
THE REST OF THE CHAPTER NOTES:
-The five different areas which PR jobs are located:
1. corporations (produce good for a profit)
2. nonprofit organizations and trade associations (universities, hospitals, churches, etc.)
3. governments (political parties like the US government)
4. public relations agencies (assist with activities of other organizations)
5. independent PR consulting (one person agency like a consultant who specializes in an area of PR)
-Working Conditions: PR practitioners are often called to duty outside of the “9 to five” hour a day work schedule. The average paycheck is 69,000/year. About 80% of these PR practitioners receive health benefits.
-Public Relations Duties (two broad categories):
1. PR managers: solve problems, advise managers, operate in rapidly changing environments
2. PR technicians: rarely advise others, prepare communications that help execute the PR policies
