On the whole, PR professionals seem a rather satisfied bunch when it comes to their careers, with 80% believing themselves to be ‘OK’ to ‘very happy’ in their current role and slightly more in-house professionals rating themselves as ‘generally happy’ compared to agency employees. Encouraging news indeed, particularly given the waves of redundancies and pay freezes of recent years.

That said, although just over a quarter (28%) of PRs are actively looking for another position, a whopping 60% would consider a ‘perfect’ role if approached. If that isn’t a stark warning for employers to look after their existing talent, we don’t know what is. Financial PR agencies should also be warned: of all the sectors, the difference between agency and their in-house counterparts was the most striking. Those employed by financial PR agencies were the most keen to move on with 44% ‘actively looking’ for other roles, whilst only 15% of those employed in in-house positions confessed they were looking for greener pastures.

When asked what were the principal reasons to move on, over a quarter (26%) of our respondents cited not being challenged in their current position as the most likely reason, followed by unsatisfactory pay (18%) and poor leadership (9%). However, the reasons for moving on depend largely on seniority, with 22.5% of juniors citing unsatisfactory pay as their principal reason for wanting to leave compared to 30% of seniors who cited being ‘no longer challenged’ as their main motivating factor in looking elsewhere.

And, whilst financial PRs might be the best rewarded when it comes to the monthly pay packet, it’s those in the Tech/Digital and Social Media sector (whose salaries are, generally speaking, on a par with those in corporate comms or healthcare) who are the ‘happiest’ in their careers according to our industry-wide poll. Those working in corporate PR agencies reported as being the least happy, although 73% of those polled still considered themselves to be OK to very happy.

There were also some results which confirm what we’ve known for the past two years, such as the desire for agency staff to secure an in-house position, perhaps because they’ve been overservicing whilst being under-resourced during and post recession.  The in-house comms role is still regarded as the Golden Egg, professionally speaking.

In addition, it is clear that the more senior your role, the happier you are. ADs to MDs in an agency and PR managers to Head of Comms in-house are happier than those in mid-level (AMs in an agency/PR officers in-house) and junior roles (AEs in an agency/PR executives in-house).

Seniority is also a factor in how aware an employee is of their company’s values and how engaged they feel with their employer as a result, with a strong suggestion that improvements in internal communications are necessary to build awareness and better engage junior and mid-level staff.  90 % of those polled were aware of their company’s values and how it impacted on their motivation yet a far greater proportion of senior staff classed themselves as being ‘very aware’ of and ‘very motivated’ by their company’s values (73% and 52.5% respectively) compared to junior and mid level workers (45% and 29% respectively).

As for the future of the economy and how it will impact on your sector, it seems that although the financial markets are in tailspin and the direction of George Osborne’s economic policy under ever-increasing scrutiny (even by members of his own party), most PR professionals are optimistic about the UK’s economic future, with only 17% believing the situation will worsen in the next 6 months. However, breaking the results down into sectors, we found that corporate and technology were the most optimistic, with a third reporting that they expected the economic situation to improve over the next six months, whilst those working in the financial services sector were more pessimistic, with over a quarter (27%) expecting the economic situation to worsen in the same period.

Read on to find out more about our exclusive results…

How happy are you in your role at the moment?

• 80% of all PR professionals are ‘OK’ to ‘very happy’ in their current role.
• Slightly more in-house professionals rate themselves as generally happy than agency employees (84% to 76%)
• Within agency practice, Tech/Digital/Social media are the happiest, with 85% being ‘OK’ to ‘very happy’. Corporate agencies are the least happy, although 73% are ‘OK’ to ‘very happy’.
• Those in more senior roles (ADs to MDs in an agency and PR managers to Head of Comms in-house) are happier than those in mid-level (AMs in an agency/PR officers in-house) and junior roles (AEs in an agency/PR executives in-house).

If you are looking for a move – what is the prime reason?

• The overall most common reason for wanting to leave is no longer feeling challenged, cited by 26% of respondents. The next most popular reason was unsatisfactory pay, at 18%. Poor leadership was then cited by 9%.
• 19% of agency employees want to move in-house, whereas just 1% of in-house workers want to move to an agency.
• The top reason for juniors and mid-level employees wanting to move was dissatisfaction with pay, cited by 22.5%. Of seniors, 30% said that they were no longer challenged.

If you would consider a move, when would you like this to be?

• 28% are actively looking for new roles; however, 60% aren’t actively looking but would consider a ‘perfect’ role if approached.
• Financial PR agency employees are most keen to move on: 44% are actively looking. At the other extreme, only 15% of in-house professional services PR employees are looking for a new job.

How aware are you of your company values and goals? How engaged do you feel with your employer and its goals?

• 90% of PR workers are aware of their companies’ values and goals, with a similar amount actively caring about them and motivated to contribute.
• A far greater proportion of senior staff was ‘very aware’ and ‘very motivated’ (73% and 52.5% respectively) than junior/mid-level workers (45% and 29% respectively).

How would you rate your company’s performance within your market at the moment out of 10? How would you rate your own performance at the moment out of 10?

• Those in Tech/Digital/Social media agencies rated their own companies’ performance the highest, with a mean rating of 8/10. In-house financial services employees were the most critical but still gave an average rating of 7/10.
• In-house employees in sectors other than professional/financial services rated their own performance the highest, at 8/10.)

How do you expect the economy to be 6 months from now?

• Overall, only 17% of PR professionals thought that the economy would be worse in 6 months’ time.
• Those in corporate and technology PR agencies were the most optimistic; a third expect the economic situation to improve in the next 6 months. Those working in-house in professional services businesses were the most pessimistic, with 27% predicting the economy to worsen in the same period of time.

Which agency springs to mind first as the hot shot PR agency of the moment?

These are the consultancies that came in first place –

Full Service – Edelman
Financial – FD
Corporate – Blue Rubicon
Consumer – Freud
Technology – Hotwire
Healthcare – Virgo
Public Affairs – APCO

Because of the financial cost of recruitment, post-recession employers can be quite conservative; they want the ‘perfect’ candidate, ideally with highly relevant sector experience and contacts. People changing sectors therefore represent a risk.

Don’t lose hope though; think about the transferable skills you can offer employers. Superb core PR skills are fundamental to a successful transition, and those you’ll need to stress include:

• Writing – Read relevant press releases to get an idea of how to adapt your writing to suit a new sector; practise the style until you get it right!
• Dealing with the media – You probably won’t have many contacts in your new sector, so focus on your knowledge of how to deal with the media and make sure you know who your key future contacts are likely to be.
• Client handling – Use your experience to demonstrate your ability to liaise and advise at senior level and to build strong client relationships.
• Time management – Juggling a heavy workload and several clients is a key element of any PR role which you should already be prepared for.
• Social media – If social media is vital to your new sector, you MUST understand how it is used, be using it yourself, and have an opinion on it.

Whilst a broad range of relevant skills is helpful, it is just as important to demonstrate an active interest in your chosen sector. If possible use some of your holiday allowance to gain some work experience so that you can be sure it’s the right move for you. Make sure you’re always up to date with stories on PR Week or Gorkana, as well as following the news and journalists in the publications relevant to your new sector.

Changing sectors also carries with it financial implications. In remuneration terms, financial PR pays the highest, followed by technology, healthcare, corporate and finally consumer. If you are in one the higher paid sectors you MUST be realistic about your expected salary. Your recruitment consultant can advise you on average salaries at your level.

Apart from all of this, to be able to make a successful transition you have to be able to demonstrate passion for your chosen sector – as with any interview your future employer needs to buy in to you, and in this instance, even more so than someone with relevant experience. Think of ways you can demonstrate your interest, for instance, maybe you could start writing a blog about the news in your chosen sector? If you do, bring a copy to your interview to wow your interviewer and put you one step closer to getting that dream job!

Although the candidates were asked to summarise their business proposition, it’s just as likely that you’ll be asked a similar question in an interview situation, but this time, you’ll be asked to talk about you! Being able to win over your audience, and quickly, in an interview situation could similarly determine whether you’re ‘hired’ or ‘fired’.

For those unfamiliar with the term, an ‘elevator pitch’ is a concise overview of, from a recruitment perspective, a person, and is designed to stimulate further interest in the conversation.  The name reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver this summary in the time span of an elevator ride – approximately thirty seconds to a minute, and that its ultimate goal should be to interest the other party sufficiently for them to want to know more.

Whilst business practitioners, entrepreneurs and sales people usually have a good handle on how to best capture their audience’s attention in the shortest time period possible, it can be far more daunting to sell yourself. That said, the ability to do so should be something in every job hunter’s handbook. When it comes to securing a job, your elevator pitch should be about your skills and your competencies, and what you can deliver to that organisation, rather than just a speedy summary of your CV.

Think of another TV show, BBC2’s ‘Dragon’s Den’. Venture capitalists determine whether to fund a project on the strength of an entrepreneur’s pitch, but interviewers operate on the same principles: if you haven’t convinced them of your value proposition in the first few minutes of interview i.e. what you can deliver to the team or organisation you are applying to join as well as your personal flair, then, like any audience, you’ve lost them – and their interest. An elevator pitch is THAT important.

We recently attended a workshop which underlined just what those thirty seconds should consist of in an interview situation.  After you’ve settled yourself, exchanged a few pleasantries with the interviewer or panel and maybe had a sip of water, it’s almost inevitable that the first question will be ‘tell me a bit about yourself…’

‘A bit’, is key. They don’t want to hear your life story. By the same token, they have your CV in front of them, so don’t use up those valuable ‘first impressions count’ moments to reiterate the information it contains. Instead, you should use your elevator pitch to demonstrate your competencies and skills, being able to back up any claims with measurable statistics and examples. That is what an interviewer will be looking for.

Every candidate’s pitch is going to be different based on their own strengths and background, but common elements should include a statement of: who you are, your USP and your call to action.  Showing you can provide a solution to a problem is also a winning element.

Think of it as the ultimate ‘hook’ in a press release’s opening paragraph. The audience may not be the media, but get it right and they’re very likely to be your future employer…

Let’s recap. According to their website, the agency is now structured on what it terms ‘G4’ to focus on four key areas which president and CEO, Fred Cook, believes are ‘critical to communications’:

Strategists – the business analysts who focus on research and analytics;

Creators – those who produce content on behalf of clients and tell stories about the brand;

Connectors – channel experts who ‘engage consumer and business audiences’ and ‘merge social and mainstream media channels to share compelling stories’ and;

Catalysts – those ‘at the heart’ of the G4 model, such as account leaders or ‘change agents’ who execute client campaigns.

Whilst the agency believes the redesign (and redesigned job titles) will benefit clients by combining strategy, creativity and engagement ‘in one seamless package’, where will it leave employees who may find these redefined job roles don’t exist in any other agency when it comes to moving on? Do PR’s actually want to be this specialised when many current roles seem to require all-rounders? And how has this been received internally by current employees concerned about their ‘employability’ over the long term?

From a candidate’s point of view, the new structure allows for employees to play to their strengths and loves, such as senior consultants who love or hate media relations, which could be a real draw for talent. But equally true is that by specialising, becoming a pure strategist or creative for example, may be limiting their future career options (particularly for in-house moves) as the model isn’t reflective of the rest of the industry and clients are still hiring with an element of caution – they prefer to see similarities with skills and responsibilities. GH will have to move fast to communicate the benefits of the new model to future employees and recruitment companies, or face the very real possibility of a talent shortage in the longer term.

However, we also know that GH staffers have been very well briefed and kudos to the agency for doing an excellent PR job.  It seems that most people in the company are excited about the changes and that it may remove some of the internal politics come promotion time.

As part of the same group, we wonder where this leaves Weber Shandwick.   Perhaps changes are in the pipeline – Hill and Knowlton reorganised to become industry sector specialists, a move which seems to have worked well for them – or maybe, as a more conservative outfit, they prefer to stay as is – for now.

We look forward to hearing more about how the changes may impact on current and future employees over the next year. Until then, we, like everyone else, will just have watch and wait…

Whilst it’s true that the coalition has experienced more than its fair share of climb-downs since the election (Michael Gove’s decision to backtrack on plans to abolish dedicated funding for school sport, dropping plans to publish the names of civil servants earning over £58K per annum and scrapping plans to remove free milk for the under –fives being notable examples), where does this leave the Government’s reputation?

U-turns are usually interpreted in negative terms; “humiliating”, “weak”, “embarrassing” have been just some of the adjectives littering recent media commentary.

And yet, if handled correctly, coalition communications has the opportunity to turn this perceived weakness into a strength, which could provide an inspiring example for PR and corporate comms professionals across the board.

Following the inflexibility of Thatcher, Blair and Brown, branding these changes of policy as examples of a more open, ‘listening’ style of government could be a real vote winner, as long as the brakes are firmly applied on any further U-turns in the near future, that is.

After all, in life as in politics, there are worse things than changing your mind.

That’s the bad news. The good news is, whether you’re a fresh-out-of-school-or-uni graduate or even a junior PR wanting to advance your career, there ARE ways you can raise your profile, get ahead of the competition and generally make your first foothold a lot less slippery.  Here are our top 5 tips for PR career success:

Do an internship:  We can’t emphasise enough how important acquiring on-the-job training and work experience is for a wannabe PR, easily the best way to make you more attractive to prospective employers. Not only will it give you a practical understanding of PR (not just theory) in terms of day-to-day duties, but it will also help you decide what sector you are most suited to.  Whilst most internships are offered on a voluntary basis, they add value to your CV that money can’t buy. After all, what’s a few weeks in a lifetime of career success?

In association with Marks and Spencer’s and Breakthrough Breast Cancer, we are offering one lucky person the chance to join M & S’s busy London-based consumer press team for a four week internship to boost their career. The closing date for entries is 5pm, 10^th December 2010. Click on ‘Career Gold’ for more information.

Social media: With today’s proliferation of digital communication channels, be it Facebook, Twitter, or blogs, being able to walk the talk is a must when it comes to social media. How an organisation manages its online reputation is at least as important as its offline media profile, so having a good understanding of how it works is vital for any prospective PR. Even if you don’t have your own blog or website, you should at least have an understanding of its wider PR implications.

Nose for news: Again, this is about having your finger on the pulse, understanding key issues facing today’s employers in whatever sector you are interested about.  You should be reading news channels (print, online) relevant to sectors of interest, so if financial PR appeals, then the Financial Times should be your newspaper of choice; for corporate PR, then the Times etc., as well as trade magazines / outlets such as PR Week, Corp Comms, Gorkana, or PR Moment, for example. As a PR, you’ll be expected to have an opinion on today’s current affairs.

Network: “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”, might be an oversimplification, but it’s still true for PRs at any level. Attending industry events and seminars (online but very importantly, face-to-face, too) will help you accrue valuable insight into a variety of pressing PR issues, raise your profile amongst peers – and prospective employers- and generally keep you in the right place at the right time. And, as ambassadors of best practice, joining trade-relevant organisations such as the CIPR or the PRCA, perhaps attending the events or signing up to training they provide, will also help your career advancement from day one. The CIPR has some good advice and tips in their ‘Careers in PR section’

The PR wish list: Personality is considered at least as important as your key skills by PR employers. As well as looking for evidence of creativity (ideas create news) and writing skills (you should have a portfolio of written work such as a blog, a school / uni / consumer newspaper article), key traits such as a can-do attitude, being a team player, being passionate about PR and your chosen sector and overall confidence are what employers look for most in junior account executives.

It’s crucial, therefore, to make the right first impression as soon as possible, not least to ensure you pass the probationary period (!)

Overall, you should have three key aims:

• build good relationships  - with your peers, managers and key stakeholders such as the media and clients. How you integrate into a new company is as important as job performance, particularly in the early days.
• establish ‘brand you’: communicate your past experience, knowledge, skills, strengths, contacts and personality to the people who matter.
• perform well and meet (or even surpass) expectations.

Sounds easy in theory but as we all know, the first few weeks of starting a new job can rank alongside moving house and divorce in the stress stakes.  Here are our top five tips to help ensure your transition to a new job is a smooth one.

Take a break: If it is at all possible, take a break before starting a new job. Whilst new employers are often keen for candidates to start asap, both parties will benefit if your batteries are fully charged and you’re given a small breathing space between debriefing from a former role and anticipating a new one. Not only are the first 100 days extremely challenging and demanding it’s also highly unlikely that you’ll be able to take leave in the first three months of a new role.

Watch and learn: As tempting as it may be to stamp your mark as early as possible, particularly in the competitive world of PR, try and make your first few weeks a ‘watch and learn’ exercise. By observing and learning how this new organisation or agency works, what its culture, methods and standards are, you’ll increase your chances of making the right decisions in your new role – and decrease your chances of ruffling feathers.  Many in-house corporate organisations actually specify that the first three months will predominantly be a learning exercise, although agencies tend to be faster paced, expecting new recruits to hit the ground running. As a way of getting new employees up to speed as quickly as possible, many agencies have a ‘buddy/mentor’ programme, where new recruits are supported and trained by a senior colleague, introduced to key people and given advice on everything from managing tricky clients to understanding internal politics.

Manage expectations: Yours – and your employers’.  Firstly, yours. Nobody puts themselves under more pressure than a new employee. The steep learning curve of the first three months is exhausting, so pacing yourself is important, as is being realistic. Be kind to yourself; nobody, not even your new employer, expects you to perform as well as your colleagues until you know as much about the business as they do.  That said you should be able to understand your new role and what is expected of you in order to satisfy a new employer. We suggest having a minimum of one meeting a month with your boss during the first 100 days to ensure that you are ‘on target’. If not, then at least you’ll have an opportunity to remedy the situation before the probationary period ends.

Do your own PR: Being proactive, actively throwing yourself into getting to know how the organisation works and who the people that matter are (not just the ones with the biggest personality or loudest voice) is the best advice we can offer when it comes to speeding up the integration process. If you don’t have a mentor then help yourself and get known for the skills, knowledge and experience you have.

Trust us: You ARE the right person for the job. As challenging and stressful as a new job is remember that you have been employed after a rigorous recruitment process! We only recommend those candidates who have the right skills, experience and cultural fit for client interview and clients only employ successful candidates.  For four consecutive years we have experienced a 98% success rate of candidates who are still employed not only after the probationary period, but at least 12 months after commencing employment. We’re sure you’ll be one of them!

53% of companies recruiting staff have rejected potential candidates who have posted provocative or inappropriate photos or information about themselves according to a survey by Career Builder.

The research found that:

• 45% of employers currently use social networking sites to research job candidates (up from 22% last year). One in ten employers search blogs, 29% use Facebook, 26% use LinkedIn and 7% follow Twitter to check out potential candidates.
• Of these employers, 35% have found information (e.g. badmouthing previous employers, poor comms skills, or lying about qualifications) on social networking sites that have caused them not to hire candidates.
• Other application no-no’s include those that used emoticons or text speak in their e-mails or covering letters.
• “With more market competition for less jobs, don’t let your social media presence be the reason a potential employer takes you off the shortlist”, advises Lynne. “At the very least, ensure your privacy settings are set up correctly”.

According to a poll of 1,000 opinion leaders which included CEOs, Whitehall secretaries, media execs and leading figures in the public sector, radio – specifically, BBC Radio 4′s ‘Today’ programme – has more influence than any other media platform on corporate reputation. Television was second, followed by print, leaving online (shock, horror) in fourth place.

The ‘Thought Leadership Index 2009′ provides interesting reading for any PR involved in reputation management. Yep, that’s all of us, then.

For more information click on

http://prweek.com/uk/News/MostDiscussed/969367/TLG-Thought-Leadership-Index-says-radio-most-influential-medium/