Your public relations (PR) department plays an essential role in your company’s success. PR defines key messages and sets strategies for how messages will be disseminated. PR professionals also execute these strategies and measure the results of PR efforts.
Top 6 Recommended Public Relations Interview Questions
When you’re hiring for a public relations position, you can save time and money by asking interview questions that focus you and the candidates on the most relevant topics. This blog post provides general questions targeted for a PR position. Feel free to adjust them to your unique needs. Based on our experience, here are six questions you should be asking PR candidates along with what to look for in their answers.
1. How do you describe the role of public relations in a company?
Strong answer: Public relations presents and maintains a positive image of a company using public-facing media.
2. What skills do you believe a public relations professional should have?
Strong answers:
- Strong ability to communicate, influence and convince
- Enthusiasm
- Confidence
- Strategic thinking
- Creativity
- Ability to get along with others
3. What should a PR professional know?
Strong answers:
- How to use the newspapers, magazines, online media, and websites that reach your target demographic
- The intricacies of both traditional and new types of media
- How to write a news release
- How to measure the results of a PR campaign
4. How can a PR professional use social media?
Strong answers:
- Identify and use the platforms that reach the right audience
- Tailor the approach to the platform
- Use online tools to schedule posts and monitor different platforms more easily
5. How do you write a press release?
Strong answer:
- Write in the third person, presenting a neutral viewpoint
- Make it newsworthy by explaining who, what, why, when, where and how
- Keep to one or two pages
- Use but don’t over-use keywords
- Provide references for any statistics or factual sources
- Include images
6. What are some challenges facing PR professionals?
Strong answers:
- Growth in PR for mobile users
- Expansion from local to global markets
- Need for continuous monitoring in real time
- Increased demand for image driven content
- Need to hyper personalize content
- Need to understand social media and how to incorporate SEO principles
Finding a ‘culture-fit’
As well as PR-specific questions asking general questions can also offer great insight into candidates’ potential to fit into your team:
- Why do you want to work here?
- Where do you want to be in 5 years’ time professionally?
- Do you prefer to work remotely or in-office?
- How have you dealt with conflict at work
A Full-Service PR Staffing Agency
The Noor team of dedicated, resourceful recruitment professionals will find a solution to any hiring challenge you give us – including recruiting PR professionals. We’re a partner you can count on – one who stands by our work and keeps our promises. Connect with Noor Staffing Group, a full-service recruitment agency for permanent staffing. Serving NY, NJ, VT, and PA.