All about the profession press secretary

When it comes to communicating with the press, individuals and companies often need an intermediary - a person who will represent their interests, positions, statements and provide explanations. Representatives of people and organizations are responsible for their image, so they have a responsibility to process information quickly, accurately and without errors. For this purpose, the profession of a press secretary was created - the very name of the specialty speaks of the connection with the media and other information organizations.

The specialty of a representative of an enterprise or an official is very young - it appeared on the territory of Russia at the end of the twentieth century. At that time, there was a sharp industrial progress, and the model of the market economy was changing. In Europe, the population of many countries actively used the services of press secretaries already in the 50s of the twentieth century, and this specialty appeared in Western countries no later than 1940. The profession gained popularity when information technology, mass media and marketing began to develop in the world.... Intermediaries between the people, the media and the enterprise itself are essential for those organizations that monitor their reputation and create an image. Also, public people, such as politicians, military men or show business stars, need the services of representatives.

The position requires a person to be attentive and quick to respond. - every day he is obliged to process a huge amount of news, view reports and read publications. The work is not only about collecting and processing information - the press secretary monitors the activities of the person he represents.If necessary, an employee of this profession smooths out the negative impression of the press on the actions or statements of the employer. The ability to quickly respond to conflicts and resolve them efficiently are the most important qualities of a company representative.

Also, an important character trait of a professional in his field is the ability to keep secrets - for the representative to work correctly, the employer entrusts him with all his goals and aspirations, so the press secretary should not be materialistic or chatty. A specialist is responsible for the image of his manager, protects his reputation and always remains true to his principles.

Sometimes a situation occurs when a firm or enterprise misconceives the responsibilities of an intermediary. The company assigns spokespersons to jobs that are not their specialty, such as organizing events or handling marketing issues. The mediator between the media and the manager performs the function of creating a positive reputation for the employer, as well as establishing communication with the public.

To make it easier to understand the functions of a professional, let's divide them into three main categories:

• protecting the manager from negative statements, correcting stereotypes about the enterprise, as well as correcting erroneous actions and subsequent negative events created by the employer;
• creating favorable conditions for communication with people around the enterprise, acting as an intermediary in a triangle of the head, correspondents and society;
• creation of a position of the enterprise that is significant for society, as well as a general line of conduct for the company, which will be available to the media.

The press secretary performs many different tasks, while not going beyond the scope of his professional duties. A company that hires a representative entrusts the employee with functions of varying complexity - it all depends on the specifics of the company. Despite the peculiarities of the work, the main task of the press secretary is to establish communication with the media, and this remains the primary occupation.

The mediator's communication with correspondents consists in providing the press with articles and materials, writing news about the company, preparing the head for an interview, as well as quickly answering questions from magazines, newspapers, TV channels and news sites. Sometimes a spokesperson can represent the interests of the company at various events when the employer is not able to attend. Professionals in their field constantly check the published news related to the company and transfer the collected information and reputation data to their employer. In addition, the responsibilities of the intermediaries include organizing interviews, press conferences, briefings and speeches by the director of the company.

If the scale of the enterprise is small, the task of the spokesperson is to maintain pages on social networks or write news that builds a good reputation on the Internet. Occasionally, a negotiating professional acts as a photographer at various events and also participates in the creation of advertisements.

The following points are spelled out in the contract for the appointment of a press secretary:

• on behalf of the director, the employee is authorized to take part in various events, meetings and collegiums related to the enterprise;
• in order to maintain or improve the image of the company, an employee has the right to suggest ways to improve the performance of departments or the company as a whole;
• the spokesman has the right to receive detailed information and documents from all company officials;
• the specialist is authorized to appear before any media in the role of a representative of the firm.

The position of a press secretary is very difficult, often you have to work with confidential information. In this regard, a great responsibility falls on the shoulders of a specialist - both for his own actions and for the actions of the company as a whole. A spokesperson should be punished if he did his job in bad faith, reacted incorrectly or ignored important events.

The most demanded skill for successful work as a press secretary is sociability... Only an easy-going person will be able to constantly contact a large number of people, will be able to beautifully answer any question and prepare a high-quality text suitable for a speech. In addition to oratory, the mediator must have several other qualities: punctuality, initiative and a high level of responsibility.

Good mediation specialists are those people who graduated from universities in professions related to social studies, journalism, advertising and politics. Practice shows that in this field of activity, those professionals who have received two higher educations in different specialties achieve greater success. Moreover, for career prospects, press secretaries often improve their qualifications by attending special courses.

To get the position of a representative, you must have either a special secondary or higher education. The second, of course, will open up more job opportunities. To enter specialized universities, you must pass the exam in the following subjects: social studies, history, mathematics, Russian and English... During your studies, it will be wise to focus on majors such as journalism, library information, advertising and public relations, and public policy and records management. All of these specializations will enhance your knowledge of the spokesperson profession.

Working as a representative of a private person requires endurance, unusual abilities and skills, a variety of skills will only be a plus in this craft. For this reason, most successful press secretaries tend to have more than one specialized education. Often, a professional working with the press has the specialty of a philologist, because the work involves the processing of a large number of texts.

In the field of company representatives, there are many employees with basic education, for example, lawyers, economists and specialists in international relations become press secretaries. Also, quite often those people who have developed a career as a referent-translator or PR manager become professionals. For applicants, we will present a small list of higher educational institutions where you can get a base for employment as a press secretary.

• Russian State University named after A. N. Kosygin. Specialties related to the profession of press secretary - philologist, journalist, advertising and public relations.
• University of Management Technologies and Economics in St. Petersburg. Specialty "Documentation and Archival Science".
• State University of Railways in Novosibirsk. Provides an educational program in advertising and public relations.
• State University named after M.V.Lomonosov in Moscow. Provides training in journalism and philology.

The duties of press secretaries are to maintain a good reputation, communicate with correspondents and constantly monitor important news... The services of such professionals are most often used by famous people, whose position requires frequent communication with the press and work with the public. The people who hire representatives you see in media articles all the time are politicians, business owners, actors, singers, writers, athletes, and musicians. In addition, some categories of people holding leadership positions may have several press secretaries at once, the most striking example of such cooperation is the president and his representatives.

You can start a career while you are still getting an education - many enterprises hire students to be a full-time secretary or assistant director of a company. The more experience a future professional has, the more chances he has to take a vacancy with a decent salary after graduation.