Communications Officer (Public Relations)
What the work is
Plans, develops, implements and evaluates information and communication strategies that create an understanding and a favourable view of an organisation, its goods and services, and its role in the community.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Plans and organises publicity campaigns and communication strategies
- Advises executives on the public relations implications of their policies, programs and practices
- Prepares and controls the issue of news and press releases
- Undertakes and commissions public opinion research, analyses the findings, and plans public relations and promotional campaigns
- Organises special events, seminars, entertainment, competitions and social functions to promote goodwill and favourable publicity
- Represents organisations and arranges executive interviews with publicity media
- Attends business, social and other functions to promote the organisation
- Commissions and obtains photographs and other illustrative material
- Selects, appraises and revises material submitted by publicity writers, photographers, illustrators and others to create favourable publicity
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in the communications office of a fictional regional water utility. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A clear update reaches residents before the rumours do, and the phones stay calm
- A reporter says your media release made their job easier
- A community open day where people leave knowing how their water gets to the tap
Hard days
- A burst main at dawn and a hundred questions you cannot yet answer
- Someone senior wants a message softened until it is no longer true
- A mistake in a public post that you have to fix and own in front of everyone
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 221231, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.