Welcome to "What is PR"
What is PR is your hub for all information about pursuing a public relations degree in Northeast Ohio. This versatile field is rapidly growing and becoming more necessary than ever before, and many Ohio colleges are providing the programs to fill this need. Use your writing skills and creative abilities to become the world's next public relations professional.

What do real-world PR jobs look like?

Agency PR

Corporate PR
Do you like working in a fast-paced environment? Would it be interesting to work for multiple clients at a time? Agency public relations is a unique sector of the profession where the company takes on a handful of different accounts, and helps with communication, digital content, public relations campaign and even graphic design! PR agencies are typically less formal and high energy environments. 

Entertainment PR

Entertainment public relations is what everyone thinks of when they think of a publicist for the film and music industry. Entertainment PR is primarily prominent in cities like New York or Los Angeles, but there are even entertainment PR firms here in Northeast Ohio! As an entertainment PR specialist, your responsibilities might be planning an event, booking an appearance or even promoting a new movie or album!

Sports PR

If you love sports, writing and event planning, sports public relations might be the perfect fit! PR professionals handle all of the media coverage and promotion for collegiate and professional sports teams. This means press conferences, digital content, photos, press releases and more! 
As a corporate public relations professional, you become the spokesperson and face of your company! You get to manage the brand, reputation and public perception of the company, while writing communications for all different types of audiences. Typically, a corporate PR specialist works in-house and receives corporate benefits.

Healthcare PR

Healthcare public relations is a huge, important sector of the industry. Hospitals and medical professionals use the help of public relations professionals to run community campaigns, tell success stories and even handle crisis communications. 

Non-Profit PR

Have you always wanted to do meaningful work? Are you interested in helping others by using your writing and communication skills? Non-profit is a great public relations sector to work in and feel like you're making a difference. These professionals work for charity organizations that benefit people all over the world. 

Social Media Management 

A large responsibility of public relations professionals is managing their social media accounts. That's right. Your professional job could be to maintain a company's presence on LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram. A lot of the sectors of PR listed above include some type of social media responsibilities, and some positions might even have you managing the accounts full time! So the next time you see a post from your favorite brand, just think--  that could be you! 
​At its core, public relations is about influencing, engaging and building a relationship with key stakeholders across a myriad of platforms in order to shape and frame the public perception of an organization."
-The Public Relations Society of America

 The Skills You Need to Succeed in Public Relations 

  • Strong writing skills 
  • Interpersonal Communication skills
  • The ability to research 
  • A problem-solving mindset
  • Creativity
  • Enthusiasm
Public relations is the jack-of-all-trades combination of so many responsibilities and skills. There's as much of a place for strong writing, public speaking and media handling as there is for video editing, graphic design and event planning. No matter what your strengths are, as long as you are a strong communicator, public relations is for you.