Hello I am currently entering my 2nd year of PR in college and was wondering what are some good free courses/certifications I could take during my summer break. Any suggestions or even advice in general for the rest of my PR college journey would be much appreciated.
The role of Communications is critical to business but is often fighting for a seat at the table unless a crisis happens and reputation needs to be repaired. For the pros:
- What does good corporate comms look like in 2026
- Who/what are examples of good modern corporate comms ?
We always see the examples of companies that handle things poorly but who's doing it well today and why?
I work in communications and was having a life and career discussion with a few colleagues recently and came to the conclusion that more men than women in business seek out executive coaching support to help them sharpen their career path and leadership development.
It's odd too because the system is built for men to succeed the boys club is so real. I would think that if anyone could use the support it is the folks that are often overlooked women and other minoritized groups who may be experiencing a lot of additional stressors in environments not built with them in mind.
What's interesting is that it doesn't seem like women in communications seek out this type of support. I see men and some in marketing, sales, HR, legal but not in comms.
Am I wrong?
I don't know if I'm just stereotyping or if its real so please help me get some data on this. I don't want to be carrying around a stereotype.
hi everyone! wanted to ask something that’s been on my mind recently.
I’m entry level (lol) working for an international agency; I’m a little over a year in. it’s always been a goal of mine to move abroad before I put down strong roots and really pursue a career.
recently, my situation has changed and my family might be looking at relocating internationally, so it’s become a little more serious + time sensitive that I start working towards this.
I’m just wondering how to go about this as someone at my experience level - I’m under no illusions of how expendable I am and trying to be realistic haha, but not sure where to start. do international agencies ever let employees do things like this, or would I have to make a larger transition? is that even feasible with the state of things right now?
appreciate any insight or guidance!
I applied for PR Associate at an agency. After an HR interview I got a skill test due tomorrow and I thought it would be a short one but it has 5 parts! A press release, data visualizations + summary + analysis + recommendation, crisis comm public statement, messaging brief, and one campaign idea.
I get it covers the whole role but to ask someone to do all these in less than 24 hrs?! I hope im exaggerating.
edit: not paid tasks at all.
Which agencies deal with sponsored articles/ commentary/ contributed brand content/ advertorials?
Thanks
I posted on here sometime last year about being laid off 3 times in one year. Well! after months of crying and applying I finally had my first job interview today! I was a bit nervous and I was a bit embarrassed about having to answer to why I was only at these places for a short while before I was laid off but yeah! fingers crossed I make it to the next round.
I'm in final stages of two PR firms - a boutique agency and one of the HUGE agencies. I right now work at a smaller boutique but don't know what to do. I'm 3 years in.
Big agency - seems like i would just be doing a lot of earned pitching. Would be on a stable legacy account. Work life balance and Glassdoor is frightening but who really knows.
Boutique: lots of freedom. Idk what i would be doing most in my day to day.
I've always been curious about what happens behind the scenes when a celebrity or public figure is suddenly in the middle of a major scandal. I assume the publicist, attorney, talent agent or business manager and client are all trying to coordinate as fast as possible, but I'd imagine that's also when communication gets the messiest. Someone starts a group chat people keep adding more people, assistants jump in, someone changes phones, it seems like it could get chaotic pretty quickly. I was talking to someone in PR recently and they said one of the biggest challenges isn't keeping the conversation encrypted but it's making sure everyone in the conversation is actually supposed to be there.
Is there an industry standard for this? Do most firms just rely on WhatsApp, calls, and trust or are there more structured processes for handling high pressure situations? I've even seen tools like Kibu mentioned in conversations about identity verification but that's about it.
I'd love to hear from anyone who's worked in crisis communications or entertainment PR.
I'm at a Director/VP level (12+ years) at a mid-sized agency (~500 people) and job searching. If I go agency again, I want a smaller shop - better creativity, tighter team culture, more room to grow as a leader.
My hesitation is that my first agency was under 10 people, run by a married couple. Fun at first, then toxic. That was 10 years ago and I know plenty of small agencies are great, but I'm gun-shy.
For anyone who's worked at a small or founder/family-run agency, what were the red flags (or green flags)? What do you wish you'd asked before joining?
Those who frequently work with influencers, no matter where you’re based in: are influencers/celebrities always that empty in the head????
I thought I’d get used to it but it’s been over half a decade and I still roll my eyes at the stupidity & entitlement.
hi all! i am about to graduate in a few months with a degree in management and PR. i added PR as a second one kind of late in the game and now that im looking down the barrel of graduating i realize i have pretty much nothing to put in/make a portfolio. I’m mainly interested in events and brand strategy and im a little curious about politics and crisis comms
writing isn’t exactly my strongest suit (something im working on i know it’s important) and i have a couple of ok press releases but im wondering what you all would suggest putting into a portfolio, or any ideas for what i can do on my own time just to make sure that i have Something
Does anyone know what a usual timeline is for hiring a communications coordinator. The first interview was 2 days ago, and they mentioned they have 2 rounds and are on a short timeline for someone to join. I’m based in Canada.
Everyone in the sub says don’t go for a masters in PR.. but let me give you my whole backstory before you comment that. I’m a women of color with very elitist education heavy parents lol. ( Harvard won’t be seeing me soon, sorry mom) I’ve been working to be social media specialist for four years and I really haven’t seen any great progress because the internships that I did after school weren’t all that great. Plus I went to school during Covid and this honestly tanked my experience and grades. My idea is if I did a PR masters (which I THINK my parents would help me pay for??) I would make sure to do like events and a corporate specific social media internship that could actually lead to a job ??? I’ve been searching and searching on the job front and the things that match my experience the most is probably internships. I feel like I need a guidance person before I try social media specialist on my own. ( did this for 6 months, terrible company, got let go) I still can’t seem to pull a job in this and it’s a huge dream of mine so it’s very upsetting.. My parents are tired of helping me financially ( they just want to retire and travel ) and I actually DO wanna make it on my own in this field. The cherry on top is that I am a woman of color and sometimes we need twice the qualifications and experience just to be considered. Would love to hear everyone else’s take on this idea.
I’m (M37) in a senior PR role at a large company, dealing regularly with leading international media. I’ve built a broad international network. Before this, I worked in politics as a spokesperson and strategist/spin doctor, and I’ve developed experience in crisis management, crisis organization, risk analysis and risk prediction.
So I basically have everything in place to run a high-end one-man boutique agency. I also like leading talented people.. I got a lot of energy from that when I was running a creative editorial setup, working with external partners and freelancers.
I have a lot of ideas on how to change PR for the better. Or better: I have a clear sense of/focus on what it should look like. And still.. I’ve been hesitant to start my own company.
First, because I still saw opportunities to prove and develop my skills at levels and in environments I didn’t expect, so I postponed. Second.. and this is really the only reason left.. because I thought I didn’t like the idea of chasing customers and all the hassle that comes with it. It might be that I feel like I’d lose my authentic self and vision if I had to do that and that I will kind of loose all my income and freedom (while the idea of starting my company would be more freedom).
That probably comes from a bad experience when I was freelancing in my early twenties. I had to wait a lot for jobs or gigs, and when they came in, they didn’t pay well.. struggling to pay rent, etc.
Right now I have a good salary and I wouldn’t want to earn less. At the same time.. if I do the math, I could probably reach a similar income fairly quickly, possibly with less effort.
It might also be that I see the market in my region as quite saturated. If I don’t feel the world needs yet another PR agency, I hesitate to step in.
And still.. I do think I could bring something different and innovative to the table.
You might say: stay true to your vision and personal style, don’t chase clients.. that’s your USP. You might say: get a coach to get rid of that hesitation you developed in your early twenties. And you might say: the market might be saturated, but that’s exactly where an original and innovative setup is needed.
So.. my questions:
Have any of you had this hesitation as well? What was it, and how did you deal with it?
Used to struggle decompressing and enjoying evenings after work. Typically did happy hour drinks, weed or doomscrolling or just nothing and overthink. Basically wasted my evenings and never felt present for life. Thankfully i've been working on this.
How do you unwind after work?
I recently started working for a non-profit that offers training programs to certify workplaces across sectors like healthcare, education, retail, and community services.
My boss is currently exploring additional ways to promote the program beyond traditional outreach like cold emails and direct contact with relevant institutions (health systems, chambers of commerce, school boards, etc.). Personally, I still think cold emailing and direct outreach remains a strong option for reaching the right decision-makers, since certification is typically handled at an organizational level.
That said, they also want me to look into other channels, including advertising in bus shelters. I’m not sure how effective that would be for reaching actual decision-makers in these sectors versus just general public awareness. Are there other B2B / institutional marketing strategies that tend to work better for this kind of audience?
This sub, and so many subs, are always filled with bad news, sadness, depression, doom etc.
As you can imagine, being early in my PR career, this doesn’t make me feel great about the field.
So, please comment your favorite stories of working in PR.
The biggest impact you made, the most fun you had or the biggest project you worked on, I don’t care, I just want good vibes!
Hi, I am a final year undergraduate looking to break into Political PR and comms and would love some advice.
I am in a bit of an unusual position, i already currently work at a creative marketing agency and have quite a few work experiences in the sector lined up. However I currently study a fine art degree, and most of my professional experience is design or social media based. I would like to work in more strategic PR and ideally get on to a grad scheme with a London agency, however these are very competitive and I will probably be competing with Russel group graduates with degrees in Politics or Comms, so I would like an additional qualification to show that I understand the industry beyond the creative side.
I am debating doing a CIPR graduate course or a Masters degree in Political Communication, and would love to know whether either would be beneficial. I know that Masters degrees don‘T always necessarily make you more employable, but in my case I am not sure.
Would appreciate any advice or insight - do many of your colleagues have degrees in Communications? Do you know people that come from an unconventional background?
P.S. I know that the best course of action is to build up experience with internships etc… but I am aiming to get a full time job straight after graduation (tricky with how competitive the grad job market is atm), and right now I only really have a shot at digital marketing roles, which I am not especially interested in.
thanks :)))
Hi everyone, I've joined a real estate developer in Dubai that's working on some new construction projects. Will be launching soon and have been appointed as the marketing manager. Wanted to reach out if anyone had recommendations for good PR agency in Dubai? Looking for a trusted agency that can execute.