A Guide to Public Relations Career Development

Welcome to this Guide, which has been created by a joint team representing the Institute of Public Relations and the Public Relations Consultants Association. It has been developed from the widely used PR Education Trust (PRET) Matrix.

The Guide is divided into four stages related to the length of time in PR – it covers the newcomer to PR through to the senior professional, enabling you to check the requirements at each key stage. The Guide looks at areas of both knowledge and skills, including: background knowledge; business skills; and the PR skills of planning and implementation. It also helps to determine what experience and training are needed to progress to the next career stage.

For training and human resource managers the Guide will help to determine the content of job descriptions and act as a basis for appraisals, as well as indicating areas where further training may be required to raise competence levels.

For those interested in studying Public Relations to obtain a qualification, this website contains a list of academic institutions with courses approved by the Institute of Public Relations.

To learn more about the IPR Diploma, vocational and skills training available, more details are available on the IPR's and PRCA's websites.

Finally, if you have any comments on this site which may help to improve it, please email your response to Ian Metherell FIPR ian@cseltd.com.