Educational: Bachelors degree in any discipline preferably with
social sciences, liberal arts and humanities is required to take up a
course in this field. There are diploma as well as post graduate diploma
courses in Public relations. Duration of most the courses is of one year.
Apart from this there are also short term certificate courses. Most training
programmes in Advertising also includes public relations. Some institutes
have entrance exams while others prefer admission on merit basis.
These courses mainly cover areas like public relations principles and
techniques, public relations management and administration, including
organizational development, writing, emphasizing news releases, proposals,
annual reports, scripts, speeches, and related items, visual communications,
including desktop publishing and computer graphics, and research, emphasizing
social science research and survey design and implementation.
Personal Attributes: One must have excellent communication skills,
both spoken and written so has to express thoughts clearly and simply.
An effective personality and the ability to get along with a wide range
of people both inside and outside an organisation is necessary. Must be
polite always as he has to work under pressure or provocation. An organising
ability is required too, as one may have to organise press conferences,
lectures, exhibitions and events. Must have self-confidence and farsightedness.
He must be able to understand human psychology and take decisions apt
to the situation. Analytical skills are required to interpret research
information and plan activity.
