Five Minute Guide: How to Find a Work-From-Home PR Role

Trying to find your first job in public relations? Securing your first PR role isn’t always easy and can be harder depending on your experience and background. That being said, it’s an excellent industry to work in and one that many people are naturally well suited to.

In this five minute guide we’ll be breaking down what an entry-level PR role entails, how to find your first PR role, and how working with a public relations mentor could help.

What Does a PR Role Entail?

Public relations is a broad discipline but, for the most part, it’s all in the name. In essence, working in PR is like being a diplomat for a company (or in some cases an individual). On the one hand it’s about effective communication and ensuring that your company are putting their best foot forward. On the other it’s about public perception and helping to build a narrative around the company you work for.

But what does all that mean on the day to day?

On the day to day, PR employees handle everything from outgoing communications to market research. Some days you might be writing pitches and press releases while other days you’ll be helping build relations with other companies.

When people think of PR they often think of damage control and this too is a large part of what public relations is about. If an unfavourable news story breaks about the company/person you’re representing, it’s your role to find the best strategy to manage that story going forwards. That strategy might entail anything from a public denial to a public apology and will often be about finding the best measured response.

Put simply, good public relations is about effective representation through whichever tools are at your disposal. Inevitably this means the role changes a lot depending on the current media landscape, but what doesn’t change is that core focus on good communication.

How To Find a PR Role

If you want to get a role in public relations then the first thing you’ll need is relevant qualifications. Generally this means a bachelors in communications or some related topic. That being said, if you’ve worked similar roles in the past it can be possible to work your way into a PR role if that’s what you’re looking for.

As for actually finding the roles, traditional postings on sites like LinkedIn and Indeed are a good starting point but they certainly aren’t the be all and end all.

One basic step you can take to really improve your job search would be to approach local PR firms directly. PR firms are often looking for qualified individuals to fill vacancies and this can help you filter for the roles you’re really interested in. It also shows that you’re someone who knows how to reach out to the right people and communicate effectively.

Of course, within the context of this article we can only provide a basic overview of how to find your first PR role. That said, we do have one trick that could be a complete game changer in your career journey: PR mentoring.

Why A Public Relations Mentor Could Help

Public relations is an industry and, like any industry, it’s one where networking is a vital skill. In fact, in some ways it’s a more vital skill here than anywhere else.

We said before that if you want to find a PR job then you should reach out directly to firms but here we’d like to really double down on that philosophy. If you want to find a role in PR, then you should start building a network and meeting as many people as you can. In doing so, you should also listen to any advice you get – after all, their experience could be invaluable to you.

Of course, breaking through into the industry and developing that network can be time consuming and difficult with very little guarantee of results. What you really need is a reliable contact you can work with who’s on your side and willing to give you all the help they can so that you can succeed.

A public relations mentor could do just that and more. With Career Navig8r, all our mentors are people who’ve worked in a job role before and know what it takes both to get that role and to maintain it. They’ll be able to help you with every step of the process, including introducing you to their network to help you find your first role.

If you’re ready to start your career in public relations then sign up with Career Navig8r today for the very best in PR mentoring.