INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Public Relations Director positions are at a 10% growth rate, which is as fast as average. With that said, there are currently 316,800 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 31,800 to 348,600 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Public Relations Director jobs was $141,490 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $74,620, and the highest 10% more than $208,000.
Our conclusion? The Public Relations Director job market is wide open for candidates.
Top public relations director sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
A public relations director resume experience section to be proud of
Writing a strong experience section for your public relations director resume:
- List your previous jobs in chronological or reverse-chronological format;
- Use no more than 4-6 bullets per position;
- Mention only relevant work experience;
- Describe the tasks you were responsible for and how you managed to exceed expectations;
- Show you’re able to take charge by choosing action verbs over buzzwords.
Looking for real-life examples of what a strong experience section looks like? Check out our suggestions below!
- Spearheaded all marketing, public relations, branding, media relations, and internal communications
- Lead a cross-functional team to design and execute the brand's fashion and trade shows, resulting in exponential media placements and product reviews across print, online and social media
- Conceptualized and implemented annual fundraising initiatives in support of Susan G. Komen and Feeding America that raised more than $20,000 in proceeds
- Successfully ideated, identified and directed influencer experiential activations in support of brand launches, that generated more than 95MM+ impressions and 700K+ engagement with 53% of the coverage added value
- Planned and coordinated two major product launches with two mega influential partners producing more than 20MM+ and 500K+ in engagement
- Spearheaded all press efforts surrounding the launch of the brand's face mask collection, securing notable placements in prestige outlets, more than doubling expected KPIs
- Worked closely with all product development departments to create and maintain marketing materials for media relations, corporate communications and social media to maximize advertising efforts
- Increased media coverage for clients by 50% through effective messaging and story pitching.
- Led a team of 5 PR professionals in executing successful PR campaigns for multiple clients simultaneously.
- Developed a crisis communications plan that was used by multiple clients to successfully navigate negative media coverage.
- Mentored and trained junior team members to improve their writing and pitching skills.
- Increased media placements for clients by 40% through developing targeted media lists and pitching compelling stories.
- Managed a team of 3 PR professionals, providing mentorship and guidance to help them grow in their roles.
- Developed crisis communications plans for clients in the healthcare and finance industries.
- Collaborated with client teams to develop messaging and thought leadership pieces that aligned with their business goals.
- Pitched media stories that resulted in a 30% increase in media coverage for clients.
- Assisted in the development of crisis communications plans for clients.
- Collaborated with client teams to develop messaging and thought leadership pieces that aligned with their business goals.
- Managed media lists and tracked media coverage for clients.
- Implemented a data-driven approach to creating news stories and thought leadership resulting in a 30% increase in media placements for clients.
- Developed and implemented processes to streamline communication between account teams resulting in a 20% increase in efficiency.
- Mentored junior team members resulting in the promotion of 4 employees to higher roles within the agency.
- Identified campaign problems and recommended fixes resulting in a 15% increase in client satisfaction.
- Developed and executed a PR campaign for a new product launch resulting in a 25% increase in sales for the client.
- Managed crisis communication for a client resulting in a 90% positive sentiment rate in the media.
- Coordinated a media tour resulting in coverage in top-tier outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and CNBC.
- Trained and mentored junior team members resulting in the promotion of 2 employees to higher roles within the agency.
PRO TIP
In writing your Public Relations Director resume, you will no doubt want to list your previous duties - as you should. But steer clear of just listing your duties, instead of your achievements. Make your resume stand out by communicating what you have done, and not merely what the job needed you to do.
Action verbs for your public relations director resume
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Taking Control of Your Public Relations Director Resume’s Skills Section
A skills section that shows what you’re capable of includes:
- Keywords from the job advert to help you pass ATS;
- Both hard and soft skills, incl. technical skills and people skills;
- Skills that are relevant to the position you’re applying for;
- No more than 15 skills – to keep your resume readable.
Top skills for your public relations director resume
Google Analytics
Wordpress
SEO
HTML
Social Media
Communication
Creative problem solving
Analytical thinking
Influencing
Team work
PRO TIP
When picking skills to feature in your resume, make sure they'll be relevant to the position you’re applying to. The point of listing skills is for you to stand out from the competition. Stay away from repetitive, meaningless skills that everyone uses in their resumes. Or else, they’ll backfire and make you look like an average candidate.
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Public relations director resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your public relations director resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
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PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have policies about identifying information like photos on your Public Relations Director resume. Be sure to check all the relevant rules before submitting yours. If you’re in doubt, you can always try contacting the company’s HR department to ask for their policy.
A public relations director resume summary that spotlights your achievements
Checklist: a strong public relations director resume summary:
- Use adjectives that highlight the character traits you’re most proud of;
- Mention 1-2 of your biggest achievements;
- Add keywords from the job advert to increase your chances of passing ATS;
- Keep the recruiter’s attention by going for short sentences.
Resume Summary Formula:
PRO TIP
Your summary section should act as a professional taster. Use it wisely. Effectively convey your professional profile and let the hiring manager know that if they hire you, they won’t be disappointed. Make sure to include keywords from the job description too! Elaborate on your abilities further in your experience section. Again, cater to the job description.
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Creating an impressive education section for your public relations director resume
The education section: checklist
- List your degrees in reverse-chronological order;
- Include your degree subject, place of study, name of institution, and year of graduation;
- Add a line or two about your relevant certifications;
- Mention some classes and projects that have helped you gain additional skills.
Top certificates for your public relations director resume
Public Relations: Media Crisis Communications
Public Relations: You can shape and control your media messages at the worst possible times.
The Ultimate Public Relations Masterclass
Everything you need to know to be successful at PR in a digital world
Press Coverage, Publicity & Public Relations For Branding
Public relations to reach 100,000+ potential clients with strategies to get publicity & press coverage for branding ASAP
Public Relations: Speak Effectively at Press Conferences
Public Relations: Develop the public speaking and media training skills you need to master this presentation format
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PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Public Relations Director. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
A professional format for your public relations director resume
There are some aspects worth taking into consideration when choosing the format of your Public Relations Director resume. These include the position and company you’re applying for, your total years of experience, whether you’ve been through some employment gaps, and so on.
Generally speaking, there are three basic resume formats for you to choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
The reverse-chronological resume format is just that: all your jobs listed in a reverse-chronological way, starting from the most recent and moving backward. It’s great for highly experienced professionals with over 10 years in the industry behind their backs. The reason for this: it’s almost entirely focused on experience and achievements.
The functional skills-based resume format, on the other hand, is just the opposite. It’s based on your skills, personality, and expertise. It highlights what you’re capable of even when you don’t have sufficient work experience. This makes it great for students, recent graduates, or people with larger career gaps.
If neither of these sounds like you, go for the combination resume format. It’s a combination of the best characteristics of other formats, which makes it great for showcasing different aspects of your career and education. It also gives you plenty of options to choose from – in terms of colors, structure, and sections.
Check out our additional tips on perfecting your Public Relations Director resume’s style and layout:
- Choose traditional 1-inch resume margins;
- Go for a serif or sans serif resume font that’s easy to read yet looks professional (e.g. Arial, Verdana, or Calibri);
- Keep your Public Relations Director resume short: one-page template are preferable, but if you have over 10 years of experience, you can also go for a two-page format;
- Save your resume as PDF and choose a suitable name, e.g. NameSurnameResume;
Tired of looking for ways to make your resume stand out? Read this article!
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PRO TIP
Sometimes you’ll want to go after a job which requires more experience than you have. Instead of using a typical Public Relations Director resume layout, you can use a creative layout. Getting noticed is the most important challenge and a creative resume layout might help you get invited for an interview as most of other accountants have boring resume designs.
Additional sections for your public relations director resume
After drafting the required sections of your Public Relations Director resume, it’s now time to move to something a bit more fun. There are a number of sections you can add to your resume depending on the company, the position, and how you’re feeling in general:
Adding the right kind of creativity to your public relations director resume
It is through creativity that we express ourselves. And trust us, it’s important to show at least a bit of your personality if you want to leave a strong first impression.
But what are the ways to add creativity to your Public Relations Director resume? Well, you can either go for a colorful and engaging template, or you could add some out-of-the-box sections, such as ‘life philosophy’ or ‘what my typical day looks like’.
It’s up to you! Just make sure that the level of creativity matches the position, the company, and the industry you’re applying for.
What makes a great public relations director resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
