What It Means to be a Public Relations Professional
If you are a doctor, a lawyer, a waitress or a model, everyone is aware of your job function. But, many people are unaware of all that a career in Public Relations (PR) entails. Defining the term “Public Relations” is difficult, primarily because the job description is constantly changing. It would be unfair to expect those not in the industry to keep up with our evolving field. 
You will hear many people who work in PR say that “no two days are the same.” Whether there is breaking news to be released, a crisis to be managed, or a client starts a new business venture, as a PR professional, you must always be on your toes and ready to tackle high-priority tasks.
Public Relations is traditionally defined as the process of creating and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its audiences through non-paid forms of communication. Many people in the PR field feel that “Public Relations” is too narrow a term to describe all that they do. What’s more, PR professionals must constantly be alert and aware of current trends and changes in the industry.
What once was looked upon as a role best served for high-profile companies, to help with the public’s negative views of the business (perhaps due to less than stellar business execs), has evolved into a multi-billion-dollar industry with specialties that range from Business-to-Consumer relationships to Business-to-Business communications.
Some common responsibilities of a PR professional include:
- Creation and distribution of press releases.
- Planning and organizing outreach events and trade shows.
- Conducting market research.
- Developing new media contacts and business relationships through networking.
- Pitching, blogging, writing newsletters and more!
- Social media management – meaning posting and responding.
These just touch on some of the tasks that a PR professional may conquer each day. There are always new responsibilities to take on in PR, and that’s why it requires a certain type of person to be successful in the field.
To all the PR professionals out there who struggle to explain their job to their grandparents, or to the former classmate you ran into at the mall, know that you are not alone. With a career that is continuously evolving, it is going to be hard to define. But that’s just one reason why we love what we do.
And, hey, we can consider ourselves the “Chandler Bing” of our group of FRIENDS.
Contact D. Pagan Communications today to help with your professional audio and video PR needs!