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PR & communications hiring

  • Why hire with us?
  • What can we offer you?
  • Advice: How to interview candidates
  • Advice: PR candidate qualities
  • Advice: How we help you hire

Graduate PR and communications recruitment

We know PR. Hiring graduates since 2009, we’ve become graduate communications and PR recruitment experts.

Our team are largely graduates themselves, and share a particular empathy with the graduate experience. This continues to give us an advantage in our PR hiring.

Our database of over 400,000 graduates is full of creative, driven candidates. Whether you’re hiring Account Executives or looking to hire a PR person, we have the resources to build you a special team.

We’re passionate about growing PR teams. Become our new project, and let us help your business thrive.

Susie, Partner, Financial Public Relations & Marketing Consultancy

Our firm has used Give a Grad a Go for several years and we are always impressed by the team’s passion, diligence, and ability to source high quality PR candidates quickly.

Our Account Manager carefully listened to our requirements and implemented a PR recruitment programme that delivered a handful of candidates who met all of our criteria. By doing this, we minimised time meeting unsuitable people, and were able to quickly progress from CV to job offer within a matter of days.

What can we offer you?

Consistency

We’ve been helping with their PR and communications recruitment since 2009.

Of the companies we hire PR talent for, 94% are repeat clients.

We’re trusted by 100s of the UK’s PR businesses to source top graduate talent.

Use our PR recruitment services, and work with a team who truly knows the graduate market.

Exceptional talent

With us, you’ll only have to look at an average of 6 CVs before finding your ideal PR candidate.

It makes sense, as nearly 1/4 of graduates in our database express an interest in PR openings.

And, with 19,000+ new job applications every month, we are constantly collecting some of the most exciting graduate profiles in the UK.

Branding solutions

We find the ideal PR hire for over 200 PR companies every month.

But we can also enrich your brand.

We can push brand-specific content to our 60,000+ social following, 200k+ monthly website visitors, and promote events to our 400k+ graduate database.

Recruitment advice

Interviewing PR and comms candidate tips:

Our industry expert PR recruiters share their top tips on how to conduct an effective PR recruitment process:

Lottie Longfellow, Senior Consultant

In communications recruitment and PR recruiting, we would advise testing the candidates in the interview process. PR candidates need to have excellent communication skills, be highly personable, and have a creative flair. So, it’s important to make the most of your recruitment process to easily highlight candidates that possess these skills.

A communications staffing agency will usually begin with a phone interview first, as this is how the candidate will be perceived in the role. We would also suggest asking a candidate to complete a writing task. In most PR roles, there will be a lot of writing and content creation expected (like press releases and decks), so it’s vital candidates have excellent written abilities.

For corporate communications recruitment especially, it is good to meet face-to-face and see what impression the candidate gives, as this will be the impression reflected of your company when they meet clients. The interview process should be all-encompassing for PR roles.

Recruitment advice

What to look for when hiring PR talent and hiring public relations staff – top qualities of a PR professional

As a leading graduate PR staffing agency, we know the qualities to look for in candidates to hire top PR talent.

By screening all our candidates at least twice, we’ll confidently provide you with an outstanding shortlist of candidates who possess the right skills, experience, and personality to thrive in your role.

Our Communications Recruiters share their top factors to be aware of when hiring PR talent:

 

Candidates have a solid understanding of the role and industry

Having years of experience in graduate recruitment, we know it’s vital candidates have a solid understanding and awareness of what a role they’re applying to involves.

Many graduates often mistake and over-glamorise what PR jobs involve, which can lead to many leaving in the first months.

Our PR recruitment process ensures candidates are aware of what the role entails, from the day-to-day tasks and responsibilities, to the wider scope of the role.

 

Look for relevant industry experience

I would suggest to a communications recruitment agency to look for candidates who have experience in PR already. An internship or a 2-week work experience in an agency will give someone an insight into life in an actual PR office.

They should advise the candidate to research thoroughly what PR is.

There is a misconception that PR is just increasing marketing and advertising. But, in reality, it is more to do with increasing the reputation and awareness of a company.

 

Find candidates who can handle pressure and a fast-paced environment

The world of PR can be tough and intense, so it’s important to find candidates who are driven, cope well with criticism, and are quick learners.

Candidates who have a creative flair and excellent writing abilities are important. But you also need to find candidates who have the right personality to be able to survive this industry.

 

Confident communicator

No matter the seniority of your PR role, all PR staff will be frequently liaising with a variety of people, like the press and clients. It’s vital that you look for new communications and PR hires who can easily build rapport, are not fazed by answering the phone, and turn the interview into more of a conversation.

 

Excellent time-management skills

The world of PR is very fast-moving, so it’s crucial for candidates to have the ability to manage multiple projects at once, work to tight deadlines, and stay calm under pressure.

Our top PR recruitment tip is to ask questions such as “how do you handle stress”, and “can you give me an example of when you’ve previously worked to a tight deadline and how you managed it?”. This will help highlight if candidates possess this ability.

 

Creative thinker

Whether you’re a PR agency or looking to hire a candidate in-house, it’s crucial that you have standout and innovative campaigns for your clients.

To help achieve this, it’s key to look for candidates who are creative thinkers, keep up-to-date with current trends, and aren’t afraid to put forward new suggestions.

 

Strategic mindset

PR Managers must have the ability to think on their feet.

It’s now very rare to meet journalists and media buyers face-to-face, so quick strategic thinking will help you get across a client’s brand, make a pitch, run events, and successfully execute campaigns.

 

Strong writing skills

From press releases to presentations and emailing clients, writing is an essential part of working in PR and it’s important to find a candidate who can write for a variety of audiences.

Asking candidates to complete a writing task as part of the recruitment process is an excellent way to see candidates abilities. So, whether you’re hiring PR Account Executives or recruiting Account Managers, don’t neglect their writing abilities!

 

Recruitment advice

Why use a PR recruitment agency?

If you’re looking for PR experts and for the top PR recruitment agencies, you’ve come to the right place. We offer leading graduate PR recruitment and graduate communications recruitment services!

With a wealth of experience in finding talented PR candidates for a variety of companies, we can confidently and quickly hire the right communications and PR talent for your business.

Here are some of the ways we can find perfectly matched candidates for your vacancy:

 

Work to understand your unique company goals and ways of working

From the outset, you will be assigned an Account Manager, who will be an expert in your industry. Your marketing recruitment specialist will meet with you and check in regularly to get to know in-depth the needs of the business, which of our services will be the best fit, and understand exactly the type of candidates you are looking for to grow your team

 

Offer expert advice and consultation style changes

In order to attract the right talent to a role, our industry expert recruiters will work alongside you every step of the way.

They will offer advice on salaries based on our quarterly graduate employment reports, as well as guidance on job specifications, from the best job titles to use, to how to sell your business in the best way possible.

 

A database of talented marketing candidates ready to go

At Give a Grad a Go, we have a plethora of talented graduates ready to go. 84% of candidates we work with achieved a 1st, a 2.1 or a master’s degree at University.

With a database of over 400,000 graduates, we can offer comprehensive and consistent PR recruitment services, no matter how niche or specific your PR role is.

 

Share our insights into the graduate PR jobs market

We know the graduate jobs market inside out.

So, as part of our bespoke service at Give a Grad a Go, we’ve created a range of useful material designed to advise our clients.

Check out our employer recruitment blog with the latest PR and Communication recruitment news!

 

Onboarding and aftercare

Even if you are not actively looking to hire, our consultants are always here to help.

They will check in with you at various times throughout the year! We love to keep checks on your hiring plans and provide useful updates about the graduate recruitment market.

Also, we’ll never stop keeping an eye out for specific top talent if you’re looking for something rare.

 

If you’re looking for only the best PR recruiters and top Communications agencies in London, get in touch today.

Give a Grad a Go has the resources and ability to recruit PR and Communications candidates that are perfect for your business.

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