Public relations officer

Public relations officers represent a company or organisation to stakeholders and the public. They use communications strategies to promote an understanding of the activities and image of their clients in a favourable way.

The following job titles also refer to public relations officer:

public relations coordinator
press relations officer
press consultant
communications officer
press secretary
media relations officer
public affairs officer
public information officer
media consultant
media coordinator

Bachelor’s degree is generally required to work as public relations officer. However, this requirement may differ in some countries.

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

• the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
• the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
• the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Public relations officer is a Skill level 4 occupation.

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to public relations officer.

spokesperson
communication manager
advertising manager
public relations manager
public affairs consultant

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of public relations officer. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of public relations officer with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of public relations officer.

Diplomatic principles: The practices of facilitating agreements or international treaties with other countries by conducting negotiations and attempting to protect the interests of the home government, as well as facilitating compromise.
Corporate social responsibility: The handling or managing of business processes in a responsible and ethical manner considering the economic responsibility towards shareholders as equally important as the responsibility towards environmental and social stakeholders.
Market research: The processes, techniques, and purposes comprised in the first step for developing marketing strategies such as the collection of information about customers and the definition of segments and targets.
Forming of public opinion: The process whereby perceptions and opinions toward something are forged and enforced. The elements that play a role in public opinion such as framing information, psyche processes, and herding.
Strategic planning: The elements defining the foundation and core of an organisation such as its mission, vision, values, and objectives.
Rhetoric: The art of discourse that aims at improving the ability of writers and speakers to inform, persuade or motivate their audience.
Communication principles: The set of commonly shared principles in regards with communication such as active listening, establish rapport, adjusting the register, and respecting the intervention of others.

These skills are necessary for the role of public relations officer.

Integrate strategic foundation in daily performance: Reflect on the strategic foundation of companies, meaning their mission, vision, and values in order to integrate this foundation in the performance of the job position.
Speak in public: Address a group of listeners in a structured, deliberate manner to inform, influence or convince them.
Prepare presentation material: Prepare the documents, slide shows, posters and any other media needed for specific audiences.
Protect client interests: Protect the interests and needs of a client by taking necessary actions, and researching all possibilities, to ensure that the client obtains their favoured outcome.
Advise on public relations: Advise business or public organisations on public relations management and strategies in order to ensure efficient communication with target audiences, and proper conveying of information.
Organise press conferences: Organise interviews for a group of journalists in order to make an announcement or answer questions on a specific subject.
Develop communication strategies: Manage or contribute to the conception and implementation of an organisation’s internal and external communications plans and presentation, including its online presence.
Use different communication channels: Make use of various types of communication channels such as verbal, handwritten, digital and telephonic communication with the purpose of constructing and sharing ideas or information.
Perform interviews: Research the context of the interview. Plan availability. Prepare yourself according to the context and the diversity of media (radio, television, web, newspapers, etc.), and give an interview.
Establish relationship with the media: Adopt a professional attitude to respond effectively to the demands of the media.
Draft press releases: Collect information and write press releases adjusting the register to the target audience and ensuring that the message is well conveyed.
Perform public relations: Perform public relations (PR) by managing the spread of information between an individual or an organisation and the public.
Develop public relations strategies: Plan, coordinate and implement all the efforts required in a public relations strategy such as defining the targets, preparing communications, contacting partners, and spreading information among stakeholders.
Analyse external factors of companies: Perform research and analysis of the external factor pertaining to companies such as consumers, position in the market, competitors, and political situation.
Advise on public image: Advise a client such as a politician, artist or another individual dealing with the public on how to present themselves in a way which would gain most favour from the general public or a target audience.
Conduct public presentations: Speak in public and interact with those present. Prepare notices, plans, charts, and other information to support the presentation.

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of public relations officer. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Government representation: The legal and public representation methods and procedures of the government during trial cases or for communication purposes, and the specific aspects of the governmental bodies being represented in order to ensure accurate representation.
Social media management: The planning, development, and implementation of strategies aimed at managing social media platforms, the publications, the social media management tools, and the image of organisations in them.
Cost management: The process of planning, monitoring and adjusting the expenses and revenues of a business in order to achieve cost efficiency and capability.
Types of media: The means of mass communication, such as internet, television, journals, and radio, that reach and influence the majority of the public.

Content marketing strategy: The process of creation and share of media and publishing content in order to acquire customers.
Psychological concepts: The psychological concepts of health protection and health promotion.
Copyright legislation: Legislation describing the protection of the rights of original authors over their work, and how others can use it.
Company policies: The set of rules that govern the activity of a company.

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of public relations officer. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Apply diplomatic principles: Apply the processes involved in the creation of international treaties by conducting negotiations between representatives of different countries, protecting the home government’s interests, and facilitating compromise.
Implement marketing strategies: Implement strategies which aim to promote a specific product or service, using the developed marketing strategies.
Perform business analysis: Evaluate the condition of a business on its own and in relation to the competitive business domain, performing research, placing data in context of the business’ needs and determining areas of opportunity.
Build community relations: Establish affectionate and long-lasting relationships with local communities, e.g. by organising special programms for kindergarden, schools and for dissabled and older people, raising awareness and receiving community appreciation in return.
Speak different languages: Master foreign languages to be able to communicate in one or more foreign languages.
Work closely with news teams: Work closely with news teams, photographers and editors.
Develop promotional tools: Generate promotional material and collaborate in the production of promotional text, videos, photos, etc. Keep previous promotional material organised.
Use analytics for commercial purposes: Understand, extract and make use of patterns found in data. Use analytics to describe consistent happenings in observed samples in order to apply them to commercial plans, strategies, and corporate quests.
Identify customer’s needs: Use appropriate questions and active listening in order to identify customer expectations, desires and requirements according to product and services.
Advise on communication strategies: Provide companies and organisations with consulting services concerning their internal and external communication plans and their representation, including their presence online. Recommend improvements in communication and make sure that important information reaches all employees and that their questions are answered.
Develop creative ideas: Developing new artistic concepts and creative ideas.
Analyse internal factors of companies: Research and understand various internal factors that influence the operation of companies such as its culture, strategic foundation, products, prices, and available resources.
Compile content: Retrieve, select and organise content from specific sources, according to the requirements of the output media such as printed materials, online applications, platforms, websites and video.
Liaise with quality assurance: Work closely with the relevant quality assurance or grading party involved.
Plan marketing campaign: Develop a method to promote a product through different channels, such as television, radio, print and online platforms, social media with the aim to communicate and deliver value to customers.
Coordinate advertising campaigns: Organise course of action to promote a product or service; oversee the production of TV advertisements, newspaper and magazine ads, suggest mail packs, email campaigns, websites, stands and other advertising channels
Develop professional network: Reach out to and meet up with people in a professional context. Find common ground and use your contacts for mutual benefit. Keep track of the people in your personal professional network and stay up to date on their activities.
Give live presentation: Deliver a speech or talk in which a new product, service, idea, or piece of work is demonstrated and explained to an audience.
Liaise with politicians: Liaise with officials fulfilling important political and legislative roles in governments in order to ensure productive communication and build relations.
Build business relationships: Establish a positive, long-term relationship between organisations and interested third parties such as suppliers, distributors, shareholders and other stakeholders in order to inform them of the organisation and its objectives.
Build international relations: Build positive communication dynamics with organisations from different countries in order to build a cooperative relationship and optimise information exchange.
Follow the news: Follow current events in politics, economics, social communities, cultural sectors, internationally, and in sports.
Carry out forum moderation: Supervise communication activity on a web forum and other discussion platforms by assessing if the content adheres to forum regulations, enforcing rules of conduct, and ensuring the forum remains free of illegal material and conflict.

2432 – Public relations professionals

 

 

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References

1. Public relations officer – ESCO