| Back to Home > Bulletin Board > Publicists' Corner > Topic: nonprofit vs. agency pr |
Topic: nonprofit vs. agency pr
| Author | Message |
| h2o_20 | Posted – 6/10/2007 2:11:10 PM | show profile Hi, I am a junior public relations and nonprofit management major. My question is, if I start at a non-profit and get experience their first, will an agency want to hire me or would they prefer someone with agency experience? |
| maphop | Posted – 6/11/2007 9:24:38 AM | show profile There have been similar threads on this topic in the past but I don't know how easy they'll be for you to find in the archives. Here's the rub: it will be easier for you to find a job straight out of school at a non-profit, in part because n-p slots don't pay as well as those in-house at a corporation or at an agency. A 30% difference in salary is not uncommon. That said, you may find it difficult to make the transition to an agency position with just n-p experience unless they've got a n-p dept. or desk - hawking a consumer product like a new underwire bra or restaurant opening is completely different than hawking low-income housing or the need for food in Africa. The trick will be to find an agency that has (or wants) to have non-profit clients and who will actively want your skills, media contacts, etc. |
| foodlit | Posted – 6/11/2007 9:52:46 AM | show profile It's generally easier to make the move from corporate/agency to non-profit than to go the other way. Financially, it will be better for you as well, to start at an agency and then move to non-profit, because you'll have established yourself at a higher salary...and you'll likely take a cut or move laterally when you go to non-profit. Basically, you're much more marketable and will have more options if you start on the corporate/agency side. If you start in non-profit, you will be pegged as a non-profit person and it will be much tougher to get hired outside of non-profit. :) Pam |
| catlondon | Posted – 6/11/2007 11:15:05 AM | show profile Or you can target your search to an agency/firm that has a heavy roster of nonprofit clients. Experience with an issue area would be a good selling point. Fenton Communications springs to mind. |
| TVchick | Posted – 6/11/2007 12:03:11 PM | show profile Read my thread from a while back. I work for a large non-profit, aka U.S. Government. I can't break into PR to save my life. Go to an agency. Make money. Try to pick up pro-bono work with ngo's and non-profits to feed your soul. Good luck. |
| Cyrus | Posted – 6/11/2007 3:36:50 PM | show profile I'd say you might be able to get an agency job after a non-profit gig, but you might very well find out you're starting as an acct coordinator, which pays pretty poorly. ------ Cyrus Afzali Astoria Communications www.astoriacomm.com |
