JULIA HARMEL Public Relations Specialist

Typical Day.. Public relations specialists communicate with the public on behalf of their company. They try their best to put out a positive image for the company and/or product. PR workers help the company they are working for develop and maintain a good image. They are also called communications or media specialists. A public relations specialist spreads his or her employer's message to the public, often using the media as a conduit. A typical day on the job would be getting a positive media coverage for a new product. PR executives have to be creative, and have to decide what media events would best suit the product.

Why am I interested?.. I have been interested in this career for a while now. I wanted this job after reading a book and the girl that was in it was a high end PR worker, so I looked into it and decided it’s what I wanted to be. I want to be a PR worker maybe for some type of makeup company, magazine or anything related to that. It fits my personality because I love travelling; working with people and ever since I was little I’ve always wanted a job where I could dress professionally. The strengths I have that will fit this job would be that I am very comfortable in my own skin, I am an outgoing person and I want to be challenged in my career so it’s never boring. I’m prepared and excited for the long, stressful hours that this career brings on, and I will for sure be capable of handling it well.

Education Any type of arts degree is a good start towards working in public relations. Classes in business, journalism and marketing are essential. University of Calgary: (great public relation courses)- Strengthen verbal communication skills by taking speech communication courses. Enhance writing skills through additional coursework in business and marketing. Acquire an internship with a PR firm. Be prepared to start at the bottom and work up to higher positions. Consider a master's degree in PR for higher level positions, especially at the executive level. Learn to work well with teams. – cost depends on university. University of Edmonton

Salary Annual earnings for public relations specialists are determined by a variety of factors including field, title, place of employment, level of education, and experience. $24,000 - $72,000+ This is my goal: Top PR account executives in international mega-corporations can make several hundred thousand dollars a year

Working Conditions Working in the PR industry does not have flexible hours. There isn’t really any risk of injury as it does not involve that kind of work. You work every day of the year, always on a new project following the previous one. You can work both indoors and outdoors due to some of the events you will be attending will be outdoors and require a lot of travel. Clothing really depends on what company you are representing. The kind of company I hope to work for some day will probably require proper business attire.

Related Occupations Three related occupations I could take if this one didn’t work out for me would be an event organizer, some form of business women, or some type of job that involves working with others.

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