Overview
Public relations professionals shape an organisation's public image and manage communications with media, stakeholders, and the public. The Indian PR industry has grown substantially with corporate communications becoming a strategic function: major employers include integrated agencies (Adfactors, MSL India, Edelman India, Weber Shandwick India, Avian WE, Genesis BCW, Concept PR, Perfect Relations), in-house corporate communications teams at Tata, Reliance, HUL, Infosys, TCS, plus the rapidly growing PR boutiques serving D2C brands, startups, and crypto.
Day-to-day responsibilities
Develop PR strategy aligned with business objectives; write press releases, byline articles, and op-eds; pitch story ideas to journalists at print, broadcast, and digital outlets; manage media relations and journalist contacts; coordinate spokesperson media training and interviews; manage crisis communications and reputation issues; lead corporate event PR (product launches, AGMs, conferences); analyse media coverage and competitor share-of-voice; manage agency-client relationships; support investor relations on quarterly earnings cycles.
Skills required
- Media relations and pitching
- Press release and content writing
- Crisis communication
- Digital PR and social media monitoring
- Media measurement (AVE, share of voice, sentiment analysis)
- Stakeholder mapping
- Spokesperson training and interview prep
- Agency-client management
Education path
BA Mass Communication, BA Journalism, BA English, B.Sc Mass Comm, BBA, MBA Marketing/Communications. Top institutes: SIMC Pune, IIMC Delhi, XIC Mumbai, Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA), Department of Journalism universities (Madras, Pune, Calcutta). Strong portfolio of writing samples and demonstrated media network is heavily weighted at hiring.
Career progression
- 1PR Executive (0-2 yrs)
- 2Senior PR Executive (2-4 yrs)
- 3Account Manager / Manager Corp Comms (4-8 yrs)
- 4Account Director / Senior Manager (8-13 yrs)
- 5Practice Head / VP Communications (13+ yrs)
Top employers in India
Useful certifications
- MBA Communications / Marketing
- PRSI (Public Relations Society of India) Membership
- IPR (Institute for Public Relations, US) Certifications
- CIPR (UK) Diploma
- CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing)