The line between marketing and public relations might appear blurred at first glance.
For small and medium-sized businesses, it is generally true. However, large corporations and corporations may not think that PR is relevant for them.
It’s a good thing that your clients have reached that threshold.
You need to let go of the “PR and marketing are the same” mentality and offer your clients the expertise they require.
It’s not easy to find a PR professional who is experienced and communicates well. One of the most difficult problems for PR agencies is finding the right people.
A PR role requires a creative and enthusiastic personality, with exceptional interpersonal skills.
We have compiled a list with expert-suggested questions for public relations interviews to help you find the right PR specialist for your agency.
You can also take a look at our list marketing interview questions to help hire top talent in your marketing department.
Let’s get a PR for you now!
Interesting read: 9 Things to Avoid a Social Media PR Crisis
Common Public Relations Interview Questions to Assess Soft Skills
Communication is the key to PR success.
Public relations professionals must communicate effectively in order to achieve the best brand awareness strategies and reputation management strategies.
It is crucial to have exceptional interpersonal and communication skills when hiring a candidate.
How do you find out if they have the right skills? A soft skills assessment interview round can help you find out.
This list contains common questions for PR interviewers that can help you evaluate candidates’ communication and interpersonal skills.
- What was it that inspired you to enter the PR field?
- What would you say about your experience in the PR industry?
- What are your top 3 core values?
- How do you deal with rejections?
- Which PR strategy do you prefer?
- Which areas of PR would you consider your strengths?
- What can you do to invest in yourself?
- What do you love about our agency/company? How do you perceive our strengths?
- How can you tell if you are going to add value to our product/services?
- What makes a place a great place to work?
- Which PR book inspired you the most?
- What PR bloggers/influencers are most inspiring? Why?
- What are you going to do your first few months as a PR manager
- What would happen if your performance is below average?
- What does the definition of “world-class worker” look like to you? Do you think you fit this definition?
- Which methods do you use for prioritizing work?
- What was the best part about being a member of your team?
- How can you manage multiple shifting priorities while juggling them?
- What would you do if it were possible to do everything you want?
- What qualities and skills would your team look for in potential candidates if you had the chance to build one?
- Please tell me how you develop relationships with your coworkers.
- Please tell me about a time you were in conflict with a colleague or member of your team. What happened?
Questions for Public Relationship Interviews to Assess Skills and Experience
PR is not for everyone. To maintain and create a positive public image, you need to hire someone with the skills, experience, and resources to represent your agency/clients through media outlets.
Our list of skills and experiences evaluating interview questions can help you determine if your candidate is a good PR professional.
“A key quality is the ability and willingness to interact with leaders, journalists, HR Management, broadcasters, and digital communication platform owners/editors around the world who are interested in your client’s unique service offerings. We are looking for a PR Manager that will justify the cost of their services to the company. Otherwise, it would seem like an unnecessary expense we would have to pay for massive publicity returns em>
PerkUp CEO Thomas Mirmotahari
- How important is your brand in your communication strategy.
- What can you do to respond to negative PR reactions due to unforeseeable circumstances?
- We would like to know what credible angles you’ve used in the past to help your clients with pitches that were unique, successful, and outside the box.
- What is your success rate/what is the turnaround rate in ensuring brands and services get enough visibility within the global community?
- What size budgets have you used in the past? How did you convert them into tangible gains for your company?
- What are the most innovative marketing strategies you have used to market your clients/previous employers’ products?
I ask broad questions to get a better understanding of applicants and allow them time to share their personalities and work habits. I want to know how much they have learned from previous experiences. This is an important indicator to me in gauging a candidate .”
Adam Crossling, Partner & Marketing manager, Zenzero
- We would love to hear about your digital campaigns.
- We would love to hear about a campaign that you were involved in.
- What is your proudest achievement in public relations?
- What skills did you have in your previous job that you could use for this position?
- Are you familiar with radio public relations campaigns?
“First, one must be able write well. Interviews are over if they don’t like it or do it well. They must also enjoy using social media. This applies to both creating and consuming. They must be able to sense the thoughts of their target audience and communicate that to others. They must be resourceful and have a track record of success .”
Krista Bernasconi is CEO and Founder, MarketSharePR
- Do you have any links that can be shared to documents, collateral, handles, or accounts?
- Please tell me about the PR campaign that made you proudest. Tell me about the PR campaign that worked best for you.
- What would you do to improve the organization’s public relations strategy
- What projects or accounts are your favorite?
“A PR agent must possess the following qualities: dedication, tenacity and intrapersonal skills. They should also be willing to work hard to get results. PR agents are often told by journalists and media outlets that ‘NO’ is not acceptable. I would like to know how a candidate deals with rejection and turn it into an .”
Jessica Armstrong, Marketing Associate, TeamUp
- What would you do if a media outlet of high-ranking rejects your pitch?
- How do you collaborate with other members of your marketing team (social content, performance, and content) to support PR efforts? What are the priorities to ensure that outlets pick up our stories?
- Please tell me about your greatest achievements as a PR professional.
- Tell us what strengths a PR agent should have, and when have you displayed these qualities?
“Being a PR Manager is essentially about networking. Therefore, you need to see if candidates have a clear strategy to build contacts. This is crucial in getting the message out to the public. Additionally, I focus on the fundamental skills required for the job such as time management and interpersonal skills.
Adelle Archer, Co-Founder & CEO, Eterneva
- What is your network strategy?
- What media outlets do your daily checks include?
- What do you consider a great story?
- Could you please tell me about a time when you had to deal with difficult stakeholders? How did you handle it?
I try to look into their past experiences to gain insights into verticals where they have had the most success, the media relationships they have fostered, and the niches that they feel more comfortable working with.” I’m interested in seeing if their clients have passion or just a smug smile.
Denise Dorman Media Relations Director at WhiteBrain Media
- Please tell me about your PR career, including highlights, awards and projects that you are most proud of.
- Which industries are most familiar to you or do you feel comfortable pitching in?
- Please tell me how you approach understanding and sharing the stories of your clients.
- Please tell me what project management tools, social platforms and media databases are most comfortable for you.
- Let me tell them that I have a client who is a female writer and has a memoir. Which social media platforms should you be promoting them on?
I ask questions to find out about the work and strategies that a candidate uses in completing projects. I’m interested in how well their PR strategies aligned with corporate goals and financial targets. Communication and building relationships are the main task of a PR profile. I like to also check how they handle PR crises and prevent them from happening em>
David Wurst, CEO, Webcitz
- Please describe a social media incident you have experienced. What was your solution?
- What is the difference between advertising and public relations?
- How do you track the results of PR campaigns?
- How can you handle an aggressive reporter?
- How can you build rapport with a potential client?
- How would you manage a large-scale crisis in public relations?
If not communicated through the right media and to the right audience, even the most exciting PR ideas could die. You should ask the candidate if they have experience in choosing the right PR marketing medium to reach their clients .”.
Simonas Steponaitis, SEO, Kilo Health
- What skills have you developed in your previous job that you can use for this position?
- How can you create a strategy that works for both digital and print campaigns?
- Can you recall a time when you were asked a difficult question during an interview? What were you able to do?
- How can you best use social media to help your clients?
- Please describe a social media problem you have experienced. What was your solution?
- What is the difference between advertising and public relations?
Interesting read: Five Steps for Making Online Reviews Effective PR Tools
SocialPilot: The Best Method to Promote Clients via Social Media
Social media has created a new way for brands to engage with customers.
As a PR agency, you have the responsibility of managing reputation crises and presenting a positive image on behalf of your clients.
But managing multiple clients via social media can be overwhelming.
But, it’s not over!
SocialPilot allows you to schedule, automate, analyze, and many other agency-friendly features that will help you excel in client social media management.
Do you doubt me? You can experience it for yourself. Get your trial today or schedule a demo phone call.
SocialPilot’s first post, 62 Questions for Public Relation Interviews to Hire the Best PR Talent appeared on SocialPilot.
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