How can you evaluate communication skills for a public relations role?
Communication skills are essential for any public relations role, as they involve building and maintaining relationships with various stakeholders, such as media, clients, partners, and the public. However, how can you assess the communication skills of a public relations candidate during the hiring process? Here are some tips to help you evaluate their verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
Verbal communication skills are important for public relations professionals, as they need to be able to pitch stories, handle interviews, present ideas, and negotiate with others. To evaluate verbal communication skills, you can use different methods, such as phone or video interviews, role-playing scenarios, or presentation tasks. You can also ask behavioral questions that require the candidate to describe how they communicated in specific situations, such as dealing with a crisis, resolving a conflict, or persuading a stakeholder.
-
Jason Matuska, PRC, CDR, CIR, ACIR, CSMR, CTR, CSSR
Senior Technical Recruiter @ Amogy | Advanced Certified Internet Recruiter
Resumes/Cover Letters: Start by reviewing candidates' resumes and cover letters for clarity, professionalism, and relevance to the PR role. Look for evidence of strong writing skills, attention to detail, and the ability to articulate ideas concisely and persuasively. Evaluate how candidates communicate their experiences, accomplishments, and qualifications in written form. Writing Samples: Request writing samples from candidates, such as press releases, media pitches, blog posts, articles, or social media content, to assess their ability to craft compelling and engaging written communication. Evaluate the quality of writing, storytelling ability, adherence to brand voice and style guidelines, and effectiveness in conveying key messages.
-
Vivek Singh
Sr IT Recruiter | MBA in Marketing and HRM
1. Verbal Communication: Use methods like interviews, role-playing, and behavioral questions to assess pitching, negotiation, and presentation skills. 2. Written Communication: Review resumes, cover letters, and writing samples for clarity, storytelling ability, and adherence to brand guidelines. 3. Interpersonal Communication: Observe interpersonal skills like active listening, empathy, and conflict resolution during interviews or scenarios. 4. Non-Verbal Communication: Pay attention to body language, eye contact, and facial expressions to evaluate non-verbal communication skills.
-
Ruchir Tripathi
Hiring Superheroes | Ex - Amazon | Empowering Consultants | Curating Professionals
To evaluate communication skills for a public relations role, assess candidates' ability to articulate ideas clearly and concisely, both verbally and in writing. Look for evidence of strong interpersonal skills, such as active listening and empathy, during interviews or role-playing scenarios. Evaluate their proficiency in crafting persuasive messages tailored to different audiences and their ability to navigate complex situations diplomatically. Additionally, consider their track record of successful media relations or public speaking engagements as indicators of effective communication skills.
-
Antonios Hany
Global Talent Acquisition Senior Specialist at ELSEWEDY ELECTRIC, Faculty of Commerce, French Section (D.G.C.I)
First of all, you have to understand the competency framework of your company. The competency framework is a structure that defines a set of competencies, or skills, for each role in an organization. This is help for a useful measure of effectiveness of employees, and for clarifying the requirements for each individual role. Secondly, you must read and understand well the job description of the Public Relation role. PR is developing PR strategies and campaigns, building positive relationships with stakeholders, media and the public, attending meeting internally and externally. So all these duties require a high level of communication skills so you need to assess the candidate using a CBI to identify the level of the competency.
-
Nicolá Serrano Espinoza
Analista HR | Asesorías de Empleabilidad en Tu Norte Laboral 🧭 | Recruiter | Desarrollo Organizacional | Administrador Público
Siempre es bueno usar el método STAR para evaluar situaciones pasadas y cómo el candidato se desenvuelve en dichas situaciones. Genera dinámicas en donde el candidato tenga que explayarse, fijate en sus gestos, lenguaje corporal, léxico, sintaxis, si usa o no muletillas, la abundancia de palabras que tiene y no repite las mismas 10 palabras siempre para poder darse a entender. los Role Play también son una buena herramienta para levantar la competencia de Comunicación Verbal.
Written communication skills are also crucial for public relations roles, as they involve creating and editing various types of content, such as press releases, newsletters, social media posts, and reports. To evaluate written communication skills, you can ask the candidate to provide samples of their previous work, or assign them a writing task that simulates a real-life scenario, such as drafting a press release, responding to a media inquiry, or writing a blog post. You can also check their grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style, as well as their ability to tailor their message to different audiences and purposes.
-
Vivek Singh
Sr IT Recruiter | MBA in Marketing and HRM
To evaluate communication skills for a PR role, assess clarity and persuasiveness in written and verbal communication. Look for the ability to tailor messages for different audiences and mediums. Evaluate active listening skills during interactions. Assess how well candidates handle feedback and adapt their communication style accordingly. Finally, consider their proficiency in crisis communication and media relations.
Interpersonal communication skills are the skills that enable public relations professionals to build rapport, trust, and influence with their internal and external stakeholders. They include listening, empathy, feedback, collaboration, and conflict resolution skills. To evaluate interpersonal communication skills, you can observe how the candidate interacts with you and other interviewers, as well as with potential colleagues or clients. You can also ask situational questions that test how the candidate would handle different communication challenges, such as dealing with a difficult client, working in a team, or managing expectations.
-
Gurpreet Jaggi
Global HR & Talent Acquisition Leader | Bringing Tech to HR without losing the human touch | Hiring globally for Tech & Finance | Advisor for job seekers | Helping companies scale | Sustainability | Europe | Asia | USA |
Conduct structured interviews that include behavioral questions to gauge candidates' ability to articulate ideas, convey messages clearly, and engage with different stakeholders.
Non-verbal communication skills are the skills that involve using body language, facial expressions, eye contact, and tone of voice to convey and interpret messages. They can enhance or undermine the verbal communication skills of public relations professionals, especially in face-to-face or video settings. To evaluate non-verbal communication skills, you can pay attention to how the candidate uses and responds to non-verbal cues during the interview, such as their posture, gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions. You can also ask them to demonstrate how they would use non-verbal communication skills in different scenarios, such as delivering a presentation, meeting a client, or attending a networking event.
-
Gurpreet Jaggi
Global HR & Talent Acquisition Leader | Bringing Tech to HR without losing the human touch | Hiring globally for Tech & Finance | Advisor for job seekers | Helping companies scale | Sustainability | Europe | Asia | USA |
Give a Case Study which the candidates can solve. The best way to understand candidates calibre is by giving some problem solving questions and see how the candidates persons. Make the exercise as crisp and clear as possible.
Communication strategy skills are the skills that involve planning, implementing, and evaluating communication campaigns and activities that align with the goals and objectives of the organization or the client. They include research, analysis, creativity, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. To evaluate communication strategy skills, you can ask the candidate to explain how they developed and executed a communication strategy for a previous project or client, or ask them to propose a communication strategy for a hypothetical case. You can also assess their knowledge of communication theories, models, tools, and best practices.
Communication technology skills are the skills that involve using and adapting to various communication platforms, tools, and channels that facilitate and enhance communication processes and outcomes. They include social media, web, email, video, audio, and mobile communication skills. To evaluate communication technology skills, you can ask the candidate to demonstrate how they use and manage different communication technologies, such as creating and posting content, monitoring and engaging with audiences, measuring and reporting on performance, and using software and applications. You can also test their ability to learn and adopt new communication technologies as they emerge.
-
Elena Brito Rodriguez
Human Resources Business Partner North & Global | International Coach
For a Public Relations position, the best approach is to conduct a practical exercise where the candidate must write an urgent press release based on a given scenario, followed by a simulated media interview (which should be recorded). This method allows us to see how they would perform in a real-world situation. By reviewing the video, we can evaluate their non-verbal language, composure, clarity in diction, and other important communication skills. This practical approach ensures we assess not just what they know, but how they apply it under pressure.
Rate this article
More relevant reading
-
Strategic CommunicationsHere's how you can ready yourself for a salary negotiation in Strategic Communications.
-
CommunicationHow can you land your first job in communication?
-
Corporate CommunicationsWhat do you do if you want to build your network in Corporate Communications using informational interviews?
-
Real EstateYou’re not getting the job offers you want. What communication skills do you need to improve?