Did you know that you can work in public relations whatever your subject background?
Public relations encompasses an incredibly broad spectrum of sectors. There are public relations roles within all sorts of industries and organisations, with all that choice; it can often be hard to know where to start. A good starting point is to find out as much as you can about the various industry sectors to see if any suit your particular interests and skills.
For example if you read pharmacology at university you could do the public relations for a medical or pharmaceutical company. Or did you read engineering? Well you too can work in public relations, places such a refineries will have a comprehensive CSR team should they have a fire or chemical leak.
Some examples of the different sectors can be found below:
Business to business (B2B)
Consumer
Charity/Not-for-profit
CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)
Construction
Corporate and Financial
Education (i.e. universities)
Fashion
Financial
Food
Healthcare
Internal communications
International
Music and entertainment
Motor Industry
Property
Public affairs
Public sector
Sport
Technology
Travel
Science and Engineering
If you are focused on moving into a specific sector, then make sure you know your stuff: research the main organisations that operate within the industry, find out about specialist public relations consultancies and keep up-to-date with current trends and issues.
Of course, some sectors will always attract far more graduates than others. It's worth bearing this in mind when you're looking for your first job, avoiding the obvious choices can reduce your competition for a role, helping you to secure employment more quickly and get that all-important work experience.