Anyone Here Work in or Know Anything About Public Relations?

[colchar]

As most people here will know, I am currently doing my PhD (in history). When I am done I would love to become a professor but I'm reconsidering because the academic job market can be tough and I'm not sure I want to deal with everything that comes along with being on the tenure-track. I might still go over to Britain to teach (have British citizenship so emigrating isn't a problem for me - I just land and am legally permitted to work and to stay for as long as I want) but am not sure because their salaries are lower and the cost of living is higher.

Because of all this I am currently looking for a Plan B (or an exit strategy). I have considered the publishing industry because I think it would be interesting to be an editor (I also served a term as the editor of an academic journal) but am also looking at other options. One of those is public relations because A) I think it would be interesting; B) there will always be a need for PR firms or in-house PR people; C) I think the skills I've gained as a historian would serve me well in that field (knowledge of past and current events, superior writing skills, project management, etc.).

So, does anyone here work in PR or have any knowledge about the field? If so, do you agree that it is a growth industry (or at least one that is not going anywhere)? What are the salaries like (I assume it is like anything else - the higher the position and the bigger the firm, the higher the salary but I am curious about entry-level and average mid-career salaries)? What is the typical day/project like (assuming anything is 'typical')? What is the typical career path?

Any other info anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.

[dkbaseball]

As most people here will know, I am currently doing my PhD (in history). When I am done I would love to become a professor but I'm reconsidering because the academic job market can be tough and I'm not sure I want to deal with everything that comes along with being on the tenure-track. I might still go over to Britain to teach (have British citizenship so emigrating isn't a problem for me - I just land and am legally permitted to work and to stay for as long as I want) but am not sure because their salaries are lower and the cost of living is higher.

Because of all this I am currently looking for a Plan B (or an exit strategy). I have considered the publishing industry because I think it would be interesting to be an editor (I also served a term as the editor of an academic journal) but am also looking at other options. One of those is public relations because A) I think it would be interesting; B) there will always be a need for PR firms or in-house PR people; C) I think the skills I've gained as a historian would serve me well in that field (knowledge of past and current events, superior writing skills, project management, etc.).

So, does anyone here work in PR or have any knowledge about the field? If so, do you agree that it is a growth industry (or at least one that is not going anywhere)? What are the salaries like (I assume it is like anything else - the higher the position and the bigger the firm, the higher the salary but I am curious about entry-level and average mid-career salaries)? What is the typical day/project like (assuming anything is 'typical')? What is the typical career path?

Any other info anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Consider a compromise -- teaching it. Jobs are somewhat plentiful. I just got a PhD in mass communications, with a focus on the history, law and political economy of it. The job situation there is as dicey as anywhere else, but the people in our department who could present any credentials at all to teach PR or advertising seemed to write their own ticket almost. Coming out with a history PhD, I'd think you could put yourself in a position to teach the history of PR and advertising by publishing a paper or two on it. The job, though, would more likely be in a communications department of some sort, but they hire plenty of historians. And of course, if you got a couple of years of experience in the field, you'd be in really good shape to go back into academia.

The history of PR and advertising is really kind of interesting and largely virgin territory. Start with Roland Marchand, an unusually readable scholar, who unfortunately passed away prematurely a few years ago with a lot of work left undone.

As far as working in PR goes, I'll PM you later with the name of a friend who is head of PR for a Fortune 500 company and owes me a favor (assuming he remembers it). He could probably answer all your questions.

[mr. synellinden]

As most people here will know, I am currently doing my PhD (in history). When I am done I would love to become a professor but I'm reconsidering because the academic job market can be tough and I'm not sure I want to deal with everything that comes along with being on the tenure-track. I might still go over to Britain to teach (have British citizenship so emigrating isn't a problem for me - I just land and am legally permitted to work and to stay for as long as I want) but am not sure because their salaries are lower and the cost of living is higher.

Because of all this I am currently looking for a Plan B (or an exit strategy). I have considered the publishing industry because I think it would be interesting to be an editor (I also served a term as the editor of an academic journal) but am also looking at other options. One of those is public relations because A) I think it would be interesting; B) there will always be a need for PR firms or in-house PR people; C) I think the skills I've gained as a historian would serve me well in that field (knowledge of past and current events, superior writing skills, project management, etc.).

So, does anyone here work in PR or have any knowledge about the field? If so, do you agree that it is a growth industry (or at least one that is not going anywhere)? What are the salaries like (I assume it is like anything else - the higher the position and the bigger the firm, the higher the salary but I am curious about entry-level and average mid-career salaries)? What is the typical day/project like (assuming anything is 'typical')? What is the typical career path?

Any other info anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, but this is a little like asking what is being a lawyer like. Or what is being a doctor like. There are so many different areas of public relations and so many differentations even within the areas. You have corp. comms. IR, consumer, event planning, entertainment (think People, P. Diddy and The Hills), financial, crisis and issues management, media relations, etc. Within big agencies there are several different departments the same way law firms have lititation, corporate, tax, real estate, etc. In terms of in-house, at big companies there are investor relations, corp. communications, investor relations, media relations, governement affairs and event planning type positions.

I will say that PR jobs tend to be among the first to get cut in bad economic cycles (as we seem to be at the beginning of). During the last downturn 2001-2002, there were a lot of PR job cuts. It's deemed a non-essential position in that kind of economic environment. You are correct that your skills are applicable. Public or government affairs might be a good fit. Feel free to PM me and I can tell you more.