It’s challenging to give an all-encompassing definition of public relations because it is practiced in so many different ways and in different venues for different people and organizations; crisis management, reputation management, investor relations, and labor relations to name a few. There are options in Public Relations agencies, in corporate environments, as well as non-profit including trade associations, charities, hospitals, and universities. However, essentially, Public Relations or PR is primarily concerned with image management and is intended to help individuals, corporations, governments, and other organizations communicate effectively with the public. The options that exist largely depend upon your skills, interests, and preferred work style. Here are a few jobs titles in the field of Public Relations: Media Specialists, Communication Specialists, Press Secretaries, Information Officers, Public Affairs Specialists, and Public Information Specialists. If you’re the kind of person who can juggle lots of projects, write well, work under deadlines, understand media and clients, public relations and communications may be for you.
Alumni Careers Network
Alumni have VOLUNTEERED to have students contact them for advice and information about majors and careers.
The Alumni Careers Network (ACN), with 4,500 volunteers worldwide, is a searchable on-line database of Princeton alumni who are willing and eager for you to contact them so they can provide you with advice and assistance about their industry or career field.
Selected Online Resources:
Communications Roundtable -
http://www.roundtable.org/ - An association of public relations, marketing, graphics, advertising, other communications organizations, this website lists job openings nationwide.
PRWeek Jobs -
http://www.prweekjobs.com/ - Positions listed range from corporate to agency jobs to non-profit and educational positions. You are required to create a log-in name to access the job listings.
All about Public Relations -
http://www.aboutpublicrelations.net/ - An online collection of public relations resources. Contains articles of interest to the industry and provides internship and job listings.
Selected Professional Associations
A professional association is an organization of people who have similar career interests and the websites often offer job/internship databases as well as opportunities to find mentors or other contacts. For other associations, see the National Trade and Professional Associations handbook.
International Association of Business Communicators -
www.iabc.com/
