1. entering the PR world
post graduation

2. your options!
corporate agency

3. work for one, work for many?
corporate agency
• higher starting salaries, • fine tune skills quickly
less bonus opportunity • more minds, more
• intimate exposure to teams
the business/industry • greater growth +
• no timekeeping/billable promotions
expectations • greater diversity of
• account management clients and projects –
skills aren’t taught more media exposure

4. agency account levels
APCO the others
project assistant account coordinator
JUNIOR
junior associate assistant acct exec
account executive
associate senior account exec
manager account manager
MID
acct supervisor
senior associate account director
vice president vice president
SENIOR
senior VP senior VP
executive VP + executive VP +

5. what’s your worth? (agency)
*from a 2008 salary survey done by the Council of PR Firms
national averages shown
$62,360
$50,144
$42,000
$35,000
$32,000
Account Coordinator Account Level 1 Account Level 2 Account Level 3 Account Level 4

6. according to PRWeek… agencies + corp

7. a day in the life…
• position:
– account executive
– New York office of a global agency
– technology practice group
• clients:
– large public technology organization
– global provider of enterprise search software,
– global managed security services provider (MSSP)
*borrowed from PR QuickStart

8. • 08:30 Scan headlines online in major daily newspapers ,
including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and CNET
News.com, read industry blogs and technology trade
publications. Discuss any relevant articles or major news
stories with colleagues.
• 09:30 Participate in conference call with enterprise
search client to discuss product launch activities and a
messaging document.
• 10:00 Receive details about new computer virus
outbreak. Draft media pitch and begin outreach to targets.
Send report of interview opportunities to MSSP client and
secure spokesperson availability. Work with team members to
develop briefing notes for spokesperson.

9. • 10:30 Field inbound media inquiry about virus
outbreak. Answer reporter’s questions and report back
to internal team.
• 11:00 Participate in customer briefing for enterprise
search client, during which a new user reference is
interviewed about the installation and benefits. Take
detailed notes to later draft a press release.
• 11:30 Answer call from client at technology
organization. Switch gears and run through status
updates for upcoming campaign.

10. • 12:30 Return calls from reporters: CNET News.com needs
answers to questions via email regarding the computer virus;
InformationWeek will take an interview if we can produce a
user reference.
• 01:00 Draft responses to CNET News.com questions and
send to MSSP client for review before finalizing content with
the reporter.
• 02:00 Incorporate manager’s feedback on launch targets
and pitch media for enterprise search client. Research
additional media targets.

11. • 03:00 Work with account coordinator to scan for
resulting coverage of computer virus outbreak.
• 04:00 Conference call with marketing team at
technology organization regarding upcoming campaign.
Provide PR updates on call and answer questions. Send
detailed recap to client.
• 05:00 Follow-up with MSSP client to ensure reporter’s
questions are answered. Call back InformationWeek and let
reporter know we don’t have a user reference.
• 05:30 Review notes from customer briefing and begin
outline of press release for enterprise search client.