The Outlook for PR Careers in 2012 and Beyond
At my main desk job, I often strike up conversations with the parents who are visiting or moving their students out of the dorms. Many of them are successful Syracuse alumni. One woman was asking about my career aspirations. I responded honestly and said that I still had not solidified my career aspirations, exactly.
I am interested in healthcare and nonprofit public relations, media relations and corporate communications. Her response was simple and not surprising, “Well, that’s what I used to do. I worked in nonprofit PR. The money isn’t great, but fortunately it is getting better.”
I decided to look into the average salaries for nonprofit public relations in comparison to other areas. According to SimplyHired, the average salaries for various titles within nonprofit range from $55,000 to $65,000. Compare this to PRSA stats that say account executives average between $48,400 to $59,600. Corporate communication specialists average $77,000 a year (and that’s the lowest earning corporate position).
The take away? There is a slight gap between corporate positions and nonprofit PR. Numbers seemed pretty similar across all the reports I looked at, though, ranking job satisfaction, stress and outlook to be high in public relations jobs.
What do you think?
PR-Minded 
I have been constantly thinking about my career after college, especially since I am approaching my senior year. I have some interest in nonprofit PR but never took into consideration what the average salary was for that job. To me as long as your in a healthy work setting and enjoy doing what you do, no matter what the income is, then your better off being happy. Money can’t buy everything.
Posted by Katie Bourus | May 31, 2012, 2:51 PMHi Katie,
I couldn’t agree with you more! I honestly hadn’t thought about salary until someone made the comment. All the work and internships I have done to date were with non-profits. It is something I am truly passionate about… and that pays in job satisfaction and happiness indeed. 🙂
Thanks for sharing. What/where are you studying?
Posted by Amanda Smith | May 31, 2012, 3:00 PM