Here's a pleasant surprise as we find ourselves stuck in the economic doldrums. A story in PR Daily this week says that despite the rough economy, the public relations job market is continuing its growth.
Jeff Domansky, author of the new book PRoactive: The Public Relations Job Hunter's Guide, offers some interesting statistics:
A 24% growth in PR jobs is forecast by 2018.
There's been a 93% increase in PR job listings from November 2009 to May of this year.
307% more job listings for Social Media Marketing from November 2009 through last June.
34% of current PR pros will reach retirement in the next four to seven years, creating new openings.
I wouldn't take these numbers to mean PR job hunting will be a breeze, especially for new grads with little or no real-world experience. But jobs are out there, as new businesses open and others grow. And people are always moving from one job to another, creating new job openings.
The key is to get experience however you can and then market it well. Being active in social media, especially with a blog that shows both your writing skills (in more than 140 characters) and your ability to understand, analyze and comment on marketing and PR news, can be a powerful way to stand out from the crowd of job hunters. Network hard and take any interview you can get. Even if a meeting doesn't land you a job directly, if you impress the interviewer there's a chance he or she may pass you along to someone else where a real job could be waiting.
Above all, don't get discouraged. It now takes, on average, 40 weeks to find a job in the U.S. Keep on plugging away and try to set daily or weekly goals in terms of how many queries you send out.
It's tough out there now, but there are jobs.
Amazing :)
Posted by: odd news | November 15, 2011 at 03:40 AM
I have been reading out a few of your posts and it’s good stuff. I will make sure to bookmark your site.
Posted by: maviyan | November 06, 2012 at 03:50 AM
I think the person needs to work as a freelancer to earn more income in this field rather then working for only company and sharing his thoughts !
Posted by: Samantha | December 10, 2012 at 05:24 AM