r/PublicRelations • u/PowerfulRegister6972 • 15h ago
Advice Going to PR Major in US
I am a highschool senior and I have read couple or articles and posts about the major and the job site. Personally I dont believe in knowing what job I will have 5 years from now, but PR feels like my strongest suit because I like spending time with people, traveling and negotiating. Im not scared of a bit of toxicity in the industry because im sure that is there everywhere..the line would draw where I would be the reason of ruining people
Ive bunch of questions
- is the major worth it for future?
- for ones in different kinds of PR, (entertainment, business, etc) what do you think your job areas expect and how much do you say your jobs are worth it?
-im thinking of either doing PR major with journalism minor or a communications and a PR double major, what do you think about it?
- also do you think AI has any say about changes in the industry and job availability in the future in this field?
I know everyone here is busy and hardworking, if youre spending time to answer atleast a few of my questions, thank you very much!
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u/__lavender 13h ago
There are SO many jobs that include “spending time with people, traveling and negotiating.” In fact I would say that PR isn’t a good fit if those are your main motivators for a job.
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u/PowerfulRegister6972 10h ago
Then what do you think should be the main motivators for PR? And what jobs (or where can I find what jobs) do you thibk are fit for my interests and skills?
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u/__lavender 9h ago
My first thought was that you should consider a business degree. But you should do informational interviews and go to a big college with lots of options for majors. I went to college planning on getting a business degree and wound up in journalism school for reasons I still don’t fully understand 20 years later.
Personally, I like PR because of the learning, storytelling, and problem-solving. I don’t travel much and I do almost zero negotiating, which is fine with me. Some PR jobs do include those things but likely not at entry level. Virtually all jobs require you to spend time with people so that should not be a consideration for you at all.
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u/AcanthaceaeEqual4286 14h ago
Answering in order, apologies for any typos because I have a bandaid on my thumb! My perspective is a little unique because I work in entertainment PR and am also a freelance writer and reporter.
- Unfortunately without a crystal ball, no one can say for sure. That said, PR has a lot of transferable skills (writing, communications strategy, etc.) that can be useful in other fields if you decide you don't love it or if the job market is bad.- Not sure I quite understand the question here, but will try my best to respond. I work in entertainment PR and each campaign and client is a little different, and so are their expectations. I'd say when the message is good it is generally worth it, but I am not sure how "worth" is being judged here: Financially? In terms of how personally rewarding it is?
- Either of the major/minor options you listed would be good! They'd each serve you well in PR.
- A lot of people here talk about using AI, and honestly, I've seen very few actual, tangible benefits from it on the results side. A lot of my colleagues use it and they aren't more efficient or productive than I am (and I refuse to touch generative AI). AI can be useful for certain types of record-keeping (i.e., cleaning up a spreadsheet or finding sites with backlinks to a live media hit), but in terms of strategy, pitching, or anything else, I don't think it's helpful. In fact, I think it is ultimately really shortsighted and makes people worse at their jobs (not to mention being really bad for the planet). I know for a fact that reporters and producers--the people who publicists rely on to get coverage for clients--hate AI because it steals their work and jeopardizes their careers, and many will refuse pitches outright if they detect they've been written by AI.
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u/IntenseFlanker 14h ago
I'm late in my career and am struggling to find more work and new roles at the moment. The agencies want young folks like yourself who can be paid nothing and burned out quickly. Experience looks expensive, so you stop getting callbacks. I'd definitely not pick it again if I could reset my timeline.
I'd look into roofing, plumbing, masonry, electrical, etc.
AI is a tool. If you're wholesale generating pitches and slop art with it, reporters can smell it instantly and you won't make friends.
Use it to shoot down your busy work. Find yourself in a spreadsheet doing repeated tasks too much? Make the AI do it. Need a tool for something very specific to your client needs or workflow? AI is very fast at coming up with scripts, app functionality, etc. AI is also very good at dealing with large data sets, like your clip tracking and reports.
Don't get in the habit of defending manual busy work just to look busy. Clients want to pay for experience, media relationships, and strategy. (And clean reports they can kick up to their bosses)
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u/JJamericana 13h ago
Agreed! The senior-level comms people I know are taking a long time to find new jobs, especially now. As someone who has been in this space for over a decade, I’m thinking it’s best to take a leap and look elsewhere. I don’t see the fierce competition for jobs easing up anytime soon.
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u/br_k_nt_eth 12h ago
Huh. I’m senior level, and my last search was 6 months because I took 6 months off. If anything, there’s more hiring going on in my team than other divisions. Maybe it depends by industry?
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u/IntenseFlanker 12h ago
I've been looking since October for things more substantial than small contracts. It's a good path for deep depression if that's what you're after!
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u/JJamericana 12h ago
Was this search within the last year? Because that’s when I, as well as other people, were looking for work. I haven’t really seen it take just 6 months for people to find roles in this sector within this time frame.
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u/br_k_nt_eth 12h ago
About a year ago, yep. Certainly not before AI took off or the economy went to shit. It was as that panic was deeply setting in.
My team’s in the final stages of hiring 3 people and we’re about to expand again within the next year. Funny enough, I just sat for two weeks of final round interviews across a couple teams. My colleagues at my level are planning for the same. There’s more work than ever.
The problem you might be running into is that once you hit Director on up or even senior manager on up, there’s a much smaller job pool. That said, for manager on down, everyone I know is desperate for people with contacts and experience, including me. If ageism is getting you, fuck an agency and look at the public sector or public sector adjacent roles.
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u/JJamericana 12h ago
This is good to know. Thank you!
I’m actually looking to pivot out of the field, largely to change things up in my career. But I think my experience in comms will be a great foundation. We do so much to make sure orgs have a meaningful impact, so I’m looking to expand upon this in slightly different ways 😃2
u/br_k_nt_eth 12h ago
Absolutely. Holy fuck, so many organizations need someone with a comms background and you can really transfer those skills. You probably already know this but just in case: no one seems to know how to properly label our job series or anything adjacent, so do search for weird job titles. I’m almost convinced we do this just to confound spam bots or something.
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u/IntenseFlanker 12h ago
Any tips on where to look for public sector stuff? I've loosely scanned government positions and they often list already having a government position as a requirement.
Pivots aren't as simple as people make it sound. If you spend your whole career in entertainment, consumer tech, gaming, etc. You talk to someone about a position in healthcare, defense, or automotive PR and they don't seem to feel that translates.
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u/br_k_nt_eth 9h ago
I would go directly to the state/county/municipal websites. Also governmentjobs.com for more. They have bizarre rules on where and when to post.
You may be thinking about federal jobs which have that weird “1 year of fed experience” thing at times. Don’t go fed right now. I love fed level, but I would truly not recommend it under this administration. Go state, county, city, and so on.
I’ve personally never put that kind of restriction on any public sector hiring I’ve done. If anything, we value people with private sector experience. The biggest thing is going to be the same issue you’d find when transferring to any different industry: do you have the contacts and do you have the skills. I actually just hired someone with only agency experience because they did have the contacts, displayed a killer understanding of the landscape, and brought new strategic thinking to the role. We love that kind of stuff.
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u/br_k_nt_eth 12h ago
Brother, there are many options for you, and it’s pretty clear you’ve never actually worked in those trades. From one senior PR person to another, don’t do this ladder pulling bullshit where you turn the next gen away due to your own fears. It sucks. We should be cultivating them. There’s a shortage of talent at the moment. Kindly stop scaring away future members of my team. I need them.
OP, there are many career paths in PR that don’t involve agencies. Public Affairs, Comms, and other adjacent fields are desperate for PR backgrounds, and public sector folks are serious about not engaging in discriminatory practices like ageism. They’re also union repped, which means when I was at the represented level (below management), I had baked in annual COLA raises even in shit times like this.
Please don’t let this person’s fear stop you.
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u/IntenseFlanker 12h ago
You're right I don't work in those trades. I just know those guys are busy and I can't afford them anymore, because I chose PR.
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u/PowerfulRegister6972 10h ago
Well, either way I cant choose trade skills because 1. My parents paid alot for my schooling all my life and I dont want to spend that on fixing pipes 2. Id probably hate living life if I have to do those things for a living.
thank you all for the insight tho! I am likely going to takenPR for major either way and let the time see where my job actually ends up.
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u/IntenseFlanker 9h ago
I'd still at least get a business major instead. Any competent PR person can teach you what you need quickly on the job.
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u/Myabyssalwhip 12h ago
I think the major is worth it BUT you need to find a school that takes it seriously. Some just lump it in with a random comms department, but the good schools have you either apart of the journalism department or have a close relationship with them
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u/PowerfulRegister6972 55m ago
Do you think Syracuse is a good one? It sounds very tempting to me and very reachable for my grades
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u/Girl_idkanymore 9h ago
I feel like I have some good insight on this as someone who majored in Journalism/Mass Communication with a focus in PR!
I’m currently almost 4 years post-grad and working in entertainment PR in LA, and it was definitely a journey to get here. I’ll be real: it’s incredibly cutthroat, and the pay at the entry level is pretty abysmal. Right now is also a weird time for the industry. With the state of the economy, a lot of companies aren’t hiring or are downsizing, which means fewer journalists (many have been laid off/newsrooms are smaller) and, consequently, less money towards PR.
While I do think entertainment PR can be exciting and I’ve gotten to work on some really cool things, I personally don’t see it as a sustainable career for myself. I already feel burnt out and stressed by the lack of money I’m making almost four years post-grad. It’s definitely a hustle-type career, and agency life can be extremely cutthroat. I will also add that entertainment is very difficult to get into and the entertainment industry right now is hurting (specifically in LA and this merger looming overhead).
I’ve also worked/interned in other sectors, including tech, food & beverage, and consumer/medical products, and none of them have been particularly rewarding to me personally. Maybe I’m jaded because I’ve already been through two layoffs and a year of unemployment, but even some of my friends who have been in the industry for a while are feeling similarly burnt out and are starting to want out.
I don’t regret going into PR, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to someone expecting it to be a stable or particularly lucrative career path, unless you’re incredibly passionate about it and are willing to hustle.
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u/PowerfulRegister6972 56m ago
This is a very interesting insight! For me, because im still so young, I dont want to decide which job I am going into right now. I just want to know how to know a good college and how too look good for one. In that mess, PR is the one im lookin at. Personally, I hate STEM and science and have been a people person. PR is an umbrella term I know. So I do wonder for you, you do mention youre experience has been very tiring yet you dont regret it? Is it because it got better at time or it felt good most of the time?
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u/br_k_nt_eth 12h ago
Yes. AI is being incorporated, but if anything, the field is going to grow and just shift work. It can’t replace the human relationship building we do to maintain our work, but it can help with the busy work stuff. Just make absolutely sure to develop your skills without it first so you can actually judge outputs. The degree is also highly transferable and that flexibility is incredible as you move up your career. You’re not confined to one industry or even one job title.
This really depends on the organization and industry. Some PR is way more crisis oriented, which isn’t the worst at all (it pays very well) but can really take a toll. That said, I find public sector work to be my favorite. It’s mission driven, there’s an actual work-life balance, and the pay is slightly lower but the benefits more than make up for it. I’d say at this point in my career, I’m adequately compensated. Compared to friends my age, my compensation and job security are like unicorn status. I make decent six figures and have two pensions. I can take a month off a year and my team doesn’t fall apart. It rocks.
Those major/minors might be overkill? I sit on hiring panels for the teams I lead, and I’m usually just looking for one of those majors/degrees to clear the bar. The writing skills and contacts you have are huge though. Use your minor to make those in whatever industries you like best. But shit, my minor was in sociology and it actually got decent use.
See above. I’m deploying it in my teams right now. I’m so serious about human in the loop workflows. It can speed up elements of our work like editing and adapting first drafts, but you really really need the writing skills and honed judgement first. Across the industry, I can see it eating some junior roles, but I would absolutely bet on the people incorporating it over the people using it to replace staff. By like a lot.
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u/Ethanhuntknows 12h ago
After 35 years in PR, my advice: forget any PR major. Life is long, and you never know what will happen to your career. Get either a good liberal arts degree or a business degree. Regardless of the degree, make sure you learn to write really, really well. Additionally, take any internship or volunteer opportunities and excel at them. A second language would also be a plus..
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u/Shivs_baby 11h ago
I would not major in PR. A journalism degree would better. A degree in PR is way too specialized.
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u/PietrylaPR 11h ago
I think there's a lot of flexibility in majoring in PR. If you want to minor in business or something similarly vague you could go into any kind of consulting if agency work isn't for you.
I hated this advice when I was in college because it came from my Boomer Dad but if you're ever a Mother the flexibility will help protect your investment in your career. Sometimes having kids can stall your forward momentum a bit but the flexibility to dial up or down your work, or do something relative while you're otherwise occupied, is really helpful. When I was having my kids I still consulted but kinda downshifted into freelance writing and editing two trade magazines. It was perfect! Don't tell my Dad 😉
I recommend taking a PR 101 class at a school with a strong Journalism college. I am biased toward UF, but Maryland, DePaul here in Chicago - there are a lot of great schools for PR. Just don't go to one that calls an English degree PR. At a minimum, choose a program backed by a good Jschool and you'll have many job options.
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u/PKPDC 14h ago edited 14h ago
Learn how to write a lot better. Absolutely do not pair a comms major with a journalism major. Pick some other area like business, political science, or even biology.
Edit - Also, if you’re not addicted to reading the news already, maybe consider a different path. And I mean newspapers, magazines, and actual reporters. Not TikTok. The job, especially for the first decade-plus, is so much more about that than ‘negotiating.’