Dear Manandh,

Greeting's for the day!!!

Public Relations is a career avenue for those who have excellent communication skills and who wish to pursue a career that offers an opportunity to interact with lots of interesting people. This is a profession where you need to understand the listener's psyche and mould it in your favour.

The first World Assembly of Public Relations Associations, held in Mexico City in August 1978, defined the practice of public relations as "the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counselling organizational leaders and implementing planned programs of action, which will serve both the organization and the public interest."The skill to handle and manage people is of prime importance and with an inclination to influence people's view you can help create a particular image of an individual or organization amongst the general public with creative use of different media.

- Pre-Requisites:

If you are planning to join a course in public relations, you must be prepared with list of colleges and the choice of course content these colleges offer. It would be advisable to select colleges that offer various courses in Mass Communication as these are the colleges that facilitate coordination with popular media professionals as well. After completing school, you may apply for a bachelor's degree in mass communication and then apply for a master's degree in public relations. Else, after graduation in any subject, you could pursue post graduation in public relations.

Some institutes offer diploma courses in public relations, which you may consider applying for, as well.

- Job Prospects:

Job opportunities for public relations professionals are very assuring in various industries if the applicants have excellent communication skills and convincing abilities. Advertising agencies and Marketing companies are constantly on the lookout for PR professionals. Several PR professionals pursue a course in photography or visual communication along with their PR course and get placed with filmmaking agencies in Mumbai.

The job prospects in India are bright. Companies such as Balaji Telefilms, Mukta Arts and other agencies usually display the openings for creative heads and creative advertisement professionals on the popular jobsites.

- Pay Packet:

The pay package for a beginner in PR can vary from Rs 15,000 and above depending on the skill set and education. If you are joining a corporate company as Personal Secretary to CEO, you may earn anywhere in between Rs 2 lacs to 3 lacs per annum for your first job. If you are joining an advertising and marketing company as a communications professional, you may earn about 2.5 lacs and above as a fresher.

On the other hand, if you apply to a News channel or a TV channel as an anchor or newsreader, you can expect greater salaries of Rs 30,000 and above. However, for media jobs, you need to be willing to work in various shifts and travel places as well.

If you apply for a marketing position with an IT company as a technical communication or corporate communication professional, you can expect a starting salary of Rs 15,000 and above. You may try venturing into sales or business development positions as well! All you need is excellent communication and selling skills. The opportunities are simply limitless.

- Job Roles:

Public Relations, as a subject is a part of Mass Communications. Other similar subjects include corporate communications, technical communication and so on. Considering that these are all interwoven subjects, a PR professional can succeed in any field if he has passion and willingness to learn more with time

- Top Institutes for PR:

Some of the best institutes for studying PR includes:
1. Xavier Institute of Mass Communication, Mumbai;
2. Symbiosis School, Pune;
3. Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi.

- Top Companies:

The below mentioned are some of the top advertising companies in India:

1. Ogilvy and Mather
2. J Walter Thompson India
3. Mudra Communication Pvt. Ltd.
4. FCB-Ulka Advertising Ltd.
5. Rediffusion- DY&R

Besides applying for a job with these companies, you might as well apply to top IT companies such as Infosys, Wipro, HCL, and others as they may look for corporate communications professionals with PR experience.

You can also apply with top TV channels and New channels in the country.

Further doubts or queries feel free to contact.

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Regards,
Rahul.