Careers and Outcomes
Building beneficial relationships
Public relations professionals build and maintain beneficial relationships between organizations and their various stakeholders, which may include customers, community members, government entities, other organizations and employees. The public relations program prepares you to critically examine and create effective oral, written and online communication that achieves organizational objectives or crisis management goals. The program also focuses on the dynamics of communicating within and on behalf of an organization through both mediated and non-mediated means.
Within the public relations program, the primary areas of study include the following:
- History and nature of public relations
- Writing for public relations
- Persuasion, argumentation and presentation skills
- Public relations campaigns
- Crisis management
- Research methods
- Design and use of different media
- Effective interpersonal communication
Career options
A public relations degree prepares you for a variety of careers within the diverse communication field:
- Communications coordinator
- Employee recruitment and training
- Employee relations
- Event planning
- Fundraising
- Government relations
- Graduate studies
- Management
- Marketing specialist
- Media relations
- Public information officer/community relations
- Public relation specialist
- Sales
- Volunteer recruitment and management
- Social media specialist
Because the communication field is so diverse, you can increase your marketability in the job search through your minor of study and an internship. These areas show your versatility and provide excellent opportunities for gaining work experience.