Attention, danger: The biggest career killers in PR
In times of crisis, being unavailable is a no-go: News Aktuell asked specialists and managers from Swiss media offices and PR agencies which factors are career killers.
Being unavailable in a crisis is the biggest career killer for communications professionals. In second place: Talking shit about your boss to journalists. Those who publish balance sheet figures too early also risk the end of their PR career very quickly. This is the result of a survey by News Aktuell and Faktenkontor. Almost 290 communicators took part in the PR Trend Monitor.
If you're not available as a media spokesperson in a company crisis, you can quickly catapult yourself into a career end. That's the opinion of more than two-thirds of the survey participants (69 percent). Also bad for your career: criticizing your own boss to media representatives (52 percent). One in three respondents also believes that they risk their career by publishing their balance sheet figures prematurely (37 percent).
But factors unrelated to one's own misconduct also put the brakes on careers. For example, almost one-third of respondents say that insisting on a 40-hour workweek prevents career advancement (31 percent). One in five survey participants also sees part-time work as a risk to advancing in the job (17 percent).
Encouragingly, those who clearly express their own point of view hardly block any opportunities for advancement. Only one in eight communications professionals is afraid to be clear with management (13 percent) or colleagues and customers (12 percent).
The biggest career killers in PR:
- Being unavailable in a crisis 69 %
- Talking bad about the boss with journalists 52 %
- Publish balance sheet figures too early 37 %
- Insist on 40-hour week 31 %
- Accidentally send out media information too early 30 %
- Work part time 17 %
- Getting yourself talked about as a successor for the (PR) boss 14 %
- Expressing his opinion too strongly as a "consultant to the management" 13 %
- Insist on women's quota 13 %
- Be clear with colleagues or customers 12 %
Source: PR Trend Monitor 2018
- Data basis: 286 specialists and managers from Swiss media offices and PR agencies
- Method: online survey, multiple answers possible
- Survey period: February 2018
