A recent survey conducted by CareerCast found that PR Executive is the 6th Most Stressful Job of 2016, just pipped to the top places by careers such as police officer, pilot and firefighter. So why is PR deemed to be such a stressful job?
Yes, we often work to tight deadlines. We also have the reputations of brands and businesses in our hands, something that comes with great responsibility. And yes, we often have difficult situations or questions to contend with from both media and clients, which can often be conflicting. But with all that stress, can we handle it? The answer is of course, otherwise why would we do it?
Individuals embarking on a career in PR do so with an understanding of what the industry entails and what is expected of them in their jobs, although you never really appreciate the demands made of your time and skill and stress that goes with it until you are practicing full time.
It’s fair to say that it is often a career path that people outside the industry don’t quite understand – the PR characters portrayed in programmes such as Absolutely Fabulous and 2012 were certainly amusing representations of PR, if a tad removed from the realties of the job – but those of us who know it, love it.
All of the reasons PR is stressful job are all the reasons why we love it. No two days are the same: we get to be creative, face tough challenges and work hard with a wide variety of interesting people to give brands and businesses a voice. Best of all, when we achieve something for our client we get just as much of a kick out of it as the client does – what more can you ask for?