The job description
A confident team player, a leader and decision maker…. Bold creative flair, excellent numerical and analytical skills….. Strong business acumen, an interest in current affairs, a sophisticated understanding of digital media…….
The skills and attributes listed on the job spec for a PR consultant are mind blowing. Surely anyone with such broad capabilities should be in the running for the next Prime Minister, not the next Senior Account Executive? It begs the question as to whether such a diverse display of skills is really necessary, or whether PR agencies are just being a bit greedy, perhaps even unrealistic. I don’t think so.
The role of a PR consultant is both demanding and diverse, even for those working in highly specialised sectors whose clients may have similar aspirations and business models. In full service agencies where clients span multiple sectors, you’ll need the skills and capabilities to fulfil the various roles a PR consultant must play – writer, presenter, negotiator, plate spinner, and so on – plus a deep understanding of your clients’ businesses and the markets in which those businesses operate.
So back to the questions as to whether the job description is a little OTT – absolutely not. PR is a discipline that means different things to different people. Clients’ expectations vary spectacularly depending on the industry, their background, what side of the bed they got out of, but it’s our job to consistently meet those expectations.
For some, it’s all about media relations and establishing a network of contacts – a black book, so to speak. For others, it’s rooted in provocative facts and figures – if you can bury your head in a pile of data and produce a show-stopping headline then you’re top of the class. For me, it’s about mixing creativity and business acumen – the ability to understand what a client wants (or at least help them figure that out) and find a creative and newsworthy way to bring this to life is the very heart of what we do.
But of course if you don’t have the passion and confidence to effectively present this idea to a client, then the creativity is lost. I haven’t even mentioned the small matter of writing, team work, digital media, and [insert skill here] for fear that this blog post will never end.
So once you’ve mastered these many skills does that mean your work here is done? Like many industries, PR is rapidly evolving and the scope of a PR agency is getting broader so the list will only expand.
Surely the answer to this problem is to specialise – either in one sector or one skill? I’m going to sit on the fence with this one and say ‘yes and no’. ‘Yes’, we need specialists whose knowledge and understanding in one area surpasses anything that we and our clients possess. Carving out a niche is important and those who excel in a specific area will often find themselves on a quicker and more secure career path.
But ‘no’ this doesn’t absolve us of the requirement to be adept in the other areas. In a social media crisis, we can’t simply tell a client that we can’t advise them because our digital specialists are out at lunch. Or when a journalist is on deadline and asks for a step by step explanation of a complex calculation, it’s not up to our research team to provide this, but to guide us as we do it ourselves. PR campaigns are the sum of their parts, and if those who put them together don’t fully understand those parts, we run into issues.
So what does this mean for those who don’t possess the mind blowing concoction of skills required to meet that ‘job description’? I can tell you from personal experience, there’s no need to worry. As cheesy as it may sound, it is all about potential and appetite. When you’re surrounded by highly talented people who are good at sharing, mastering and refining these skills soon becomes one of the best parts of the job, albeit a challenging one.
Communications, Consumer PR, Corporate PR, digital PR, PR Career, PR Job