In applying for a job recently, I had to select from a 24 page list of ‘industry-stardard’ job titles, to find one that matched my actual job title the most accurately. Guess what I ended up putting? Senior Manager, Public Relations. Well, it was either that or Senior Manager, Marketing. I wondered if the recipient would make the connection with the actual job title on my CV – Senior Manager, International Analyst Relations. I wasn’t hopeful.
As AR professionals, we often run into challenges related to what it is we actually do. Sometimes it might be trying to explain your job to someone you meet at a party. Preferably without them glazing over. Or, as in my recent case, trying to match a generic job title from a preconceived list of ‘proper’ jobs to my actual AR role.
One of the more serious problems, though, is the lack of any real data on AR salaries.
If any of you have ever tried to use one of those online salary comparison sites, it will typically list Public Relations when you enter Analyst Relations. It’s not that we take offence, it’s just that the PR market is so much more developed and larger than the AR world, that the results are far from accurate. And in these times when supply outweighs demand, and many AR professionals are competing for jobs, solid evidence to assess – and prove – your worth is invaluable.
The IIAR is therefore asking all its members to anonymously complete the latest AR Salary Survey to give us all a clearer idea of who should be paid what.
The results, to be published anonymously, will provide a benchmark on AR salaries, and salary ranges depending on experience, geography and coverage.
