2012 PR Predictions: 5 Guaranteed to Affect Your Resume

Posted on Jan 10, 2012 in Hiring Hub | 2 comments

I recently read an article by Beth Monaghan that discussed top trends for the PR industry in 2012. Some of her predictions and others we have seen in the trades this past month will have a direct relationship to the skills that hiring managers will want. Specifically, here are the areas that will see change in the year ahead:

1.  PR skills will move beyond media relations. This has been long-reported, and a long time in coming. But now, more than ever, PR people will need to fully understand social media and content marketing and be able to write clearly. While a press release does not necessarily need to be well-written, a PR professional must now also be able to ghost author a blog in a CEO’s tone and style, for example.

2. Social media. To better help our clients, PR pros must know how to navigate the content flow. Customizing content streams, grouping contacts by topic and sharing selectively are all terms and skills to master moving forward.

3. Remember smile and dial? PR is all about relationships, so picking up the phone and developing them with clients, press, etc. will continue to be important … even in this era of status updates and IM.

4. Content rules. Effectively reaching your audience using social media and blogs will become increasingly difficult as the competition builds.  Start reading and researching to find topics and materials that will be of interest to your audience.

5. Measurement is in. PR pros have always discussed and debated measurement, but there are now are many new tools to consider. As the measurement industry grows, so will the options. Start to keep on top of this subject now. A good way to start is to set up Google Alerts with monitoring- and measurement-related keywords and phrases.

What predictions to you have? What developments in communications do you see impacting and reshaping the skills that hiring managers are looking for now? Whether the ones above come true or now, they certainly include skills that should be referenced on your resume.