Public relations specialist: training, further education, courses, offers and providers

The part-time continuing education, further training to become a public relations specialist takes between eight months and one year, depending on the school. The teaching models may vary. Find out more from the providers.

After passing the Public Relations Specialist Federal Professional Examination (FPE), graduates are awarded the qualification: "PR Specialist with Federal Certificate of Competence" or "PR Specialist with Federal Certificate of Competence".

The PR specialist training course teaches you the following:

• Fundamentals of ethics, law, economics/business administration and society
• Conceptual and strategic foundations
• Measures and channels
• Content: Writing and editing
• Best practice: oral presentation and expert discussion

After the PR specialist training there are the following further development opportunities:

• Courses at private technical colleges, Colleges of Higher Education and Universities of Applied Sciences
• Advanced Federal Professional Examination (AFPE) as a PR consultant with a federal diploma
• University of Applied Sciences e.g. Bachelor of Arts (UAS) in Communication, specializing in Journalism/Organizational Communication

Public relations training requires the following personal skills:

• Communication skills
• Organizational skills
• Service awareness
• Creativity
• Strategic thinking
• Ability to work under pressure

PR specialists work in the communications departments of companies, institutions, non-profit organizations, public authorities or PR agencies. Well-trained PR specialists are in high demand on the market, because regardless of industry and company size, it is always about dialog with people. Particularly in agencies or larger companies, the workload can be very heavy at times, for example in the context of events or campaigns.

A PR specialist with a Federal Diploma of Higher Education carries out the following activities:

• PR specialists are where the threads for the planning and implementation of communication projects come together.
• In consultation with the management, you will also take on some communication tasks independently.
• You will write and edit editorial articles for customer and employee newspapers, media releases and texts for digital media and social media.
• You write texts for annual reports, image brochures or information flyers.
• They coordinate the design and production of these instruments.
• They are in constant dialog with internal and external experts from the areas of design and production as well as with the relevant dialog groups such as customers, media, employees, etc.
• You will take on parts of the media work such as organizing media conferences, writing media releases and will be responsible for professional communication with media representatives.
• You will be involved in the planning, organization and implementation of events such as company anniversaries, opening aperitifs, open days, etc.
• You are responsible for the flawless commercial processing of orders.
• You carry out ongoing cost, deadline and quality checks on projects.

In order to be admitted to the Federal Professional Examination Public Relations Specialist (FPE), the following requirements must be met:

• Education:
  • Federal Diploma of Vocational Education and Training in Business Administration
  • Diploma from a state-recognized commercial college
  • Diploma from a state-recognized, at least 3-year Specialized School
  • Matura certificate (all types, including Federal Vocational Baccalaureate)
  • Diploma from a state-recognized College of Higher Education, University of Applied Sciences or Universities
  • Specialist certificate as a communications specialist, marketing specialist, sales specialist or direct marketing specialist

• Professional experience:
  • 2 years of professional experience (PR, corporate communications, marketing communications, marketing, active sales, direct marketing or journalism)