Member Mondays Recap: Job Market Tips and Trends for PR and Comms Professionals

PRSA’s latest Member Mondays livestream on March 10 offered invaluable career and job-hunting insights from top industry recruiters. Experts discussed the current job market, the most in-demand skills and roles, and strategies for standing out as a candidate. Attendees gained practical advice on navigating their next career move in an evolving profession.

Host Ray Day, APR, PRSA’s 2025 chair, cited statistics gleaned from PRSA’s Jobcenter. The volume of communications jobs today is down 25% compared to pre-pandemic levels, said Day, Stagwell vice chair and Allison Worldwide executive chair. “Just after the COVID years, the employee was more in control. We’ve seen those dynamics change, as the PR job market has become more balanced.”

In today’s PR job market, companies are placing “more emphasis on retaining and upskilling the current employee base, rather than going outside and hiring people,” Day said. At the same time, with automation and AI, “Different skills are being required within the comms profession overall.”

The communications job market “was on a downward trajectory for the last couple of years,” said panelist Jamie McLaughlin, founder and CEO of Monday Talent in Beverly Hills, Calif., a search firm for PR and marketing executives. “The market is stronger now, but it’s difficult to make predictions.”

A year ago the PR job market was tough, “but it’s improving now,” said panelist T.R. Straub, a recruiter at Russell Reynolds Associates in Washington, D.C.

Employer expectations have grown that communications professionals will work hard and be held accountable for their work, said panelist Michael Patino, founder of Patino Associates, a Tysons Corner, Va.-based recruiting firm for PR and marketing executives.

In uncertain times, soft skills are needed.

Clients expect recruiters to find job candidates with the right empirical abilities, but they’re also looking for soft skills, Patino said. For example, a potential employer might ask, “How does this person handle ambiguity?”

Straub said his clients need job candidates who have communications ability and also understand “the mechanics of earnings and can speak to the larger strategy.”

Patino agreed. “Clients are looking for people who absolutely understand their business,” he said. To stand out for recruiters, demonstrate how your communications role accelerates the organization’s goals, he said.

Soft skills are hard to quantify on a resume, but during job interviews try to convey your instincts for being a trusted communications adviser, McLaughlin said. “Show that you can make business decisions through a communications lens. Get across that you have those intangible skills.”

Day said the use of artificial intelligence as a “hiring, a sifting, a winnowing tool” for job applicants has become pervasive. “We’re seeing AI have a greater role in the hiring process.”

When searching for job candidates, “We use AI to complement our research teams,” Straub said. Artificial intelligence “pulls in lists of names from a host of data sources.” Carefully choose the keywords that you use on your LinkedIn profile, he advised.

While there are fewer roles open at the senior-most levels of public relations, professionals with 30 years or more of experience might find opportunities in CEO communications, McLaughlin said.

During the session, one participant on the call asked for advice on finding entry-level PR positions that require nontraditional PR skills, such as influencer marketing and AI.

“Utilize the fantastic network that you have through PRSA,” Patino said. “Not all roles are posted. In fact, there are just as many not-posted roles out there, as there are posted” job openings, he said. “Plenty of opportunities exist in informal networks.”

For students looking ahead to their PR careers, “Being active in your university is so powerful,” McLaughlin said. “Being present, being seen is important.”

Held on the second Monday of every month, the information-sharing Member Mondays are available to PRSA members and nonmembers and focus on topics of interest to the communications profession. There is another session on the fourth Monday of every month for PRSA leaders at Chapters, Districts and Sections, focusing on best-practice sharing and progress on PRSA’s Strategic Plan. Find more information here.

Watch a replay of the March 10 session below:

Photo credit: Infinite Flow

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