It is a management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or an organisation with the public interest, and plans and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.

The industry comprises consultancy and in-house practice, across a vast range of specialist areas - media relations, internal communication, publicity and events, government relations, public affairs, crisis and issues management to name a few - in all business sectors including healthcare, financial services, technology, community, consumer and more . . . . . .

The public relations industry is one of the fastest growing marketing communications areas and your skills may fit today’s PR agency needs.

While the term seems rather simple, the craft of public relations has evolved to cover a myriad of tasks on behalf of governments, enterprises and individuals.

At its core, public relations is the key to effective communication. Unfortunately, the term 'public relations' is still misused and misunderstood - because it encompasses such a broad range of philosophies and techniques.

"The deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation (or individual) and its (or their) publics."

However, with the massive change in the communication process brought about by the information era, public relations could be described easily as: the management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or an organisation with the public interest, and plans and executes a programme of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.

What is significant is that public relations people are pivotal to the communication process between an organisation/individual and their publics. They must understand the needs of an organisation and they must be attuned to the needs of the public’s. It is the job of public relations practitioners - whether they are individuals, in-house employees or in consultancies - to fully understand the communication process and to develop strategies, which ensure that any form of communication is clear, honest and unambiguous so that the messages are easily understood by the respective target audiences. In many cases, an enterprise can have a number of audiences or stakeholders. A stakeholder is any individual or body who believes they have a stake in, or is relevant to a government, enterprise or individual.

This can range from media, shareholders of a company, the employees of an organisation, constituents of a politician, customers of an organisation, to the general public. In this information era, the methodology used to carry the messages to the various audiences has expanded exponentially and are still expanding. Experience has shown that many enterprises, and in many instances senior executives, are very poor at communication. Therefore, they look to public relations practitioners to perform this vital function. As well, they look to the PR industry for training in effective communication.

While there may always be two sides to any message, it is the job of the public relations practitioner to ensure that their messages are put forward in a careful and concise manner to avoid misunderstanding and misinterpretation.

The field of corporate communication serves as an excellent example of the evolution of corporate functions and its subsequent impact in terms of career prospects. The field has undergone radical developments over the years and has become a full-fledged career option today. The number of job openings has increased what with more companies taking notice of its importance in business objectives, and a rise in competition.

Also, due to escalation of the mass media, the public scrutiny of companies has intensified, once again impacting the growth of corporate communication. "As competition grows and as reputation becomes more important, any company serious about its image will always have a need for corporate communication.”

Corporate communication encompasses all the communication that takes place between an organisation and its various stakeholders in order to project the company's brand within and beyond the organisation. Corporate communication is responsible for creating and maintaining the brand and looking after the organisation's reputation.
Traditionally about media relations and internal communication, this field now encompasses functions such as advertising and brand building and management. Corporate communication also deals with crisis control, but it does not wait for a crisis to occur. It works towards projecting an excellent image at all times, which helps when the chips are down. The positive image a company projects helps in molding public opinion in its favour in times of an actual crisis.

"With globalisation, all companies operating in India and abroad need to meet global benchmarks in the way that they represent themselves, In many companies, there is also a need to transform the perception of the brand from its traditional perception to a more contemporary and global image."