Recruitment and public relations (PR) may seem like vastly different fields, but from personal experience, I’ve found there are many similarities between the two.

Both involve the process of attracting and engaging with a target audience, and both require a deep understanding of the audience in order to be successful. Especially when working in Tech!

In recruitment, the target audience is job seekers, and the goal is to attract the right candidates for open positions within a company. This requires a deep understanding of the job requirements and the qualifications that are needed for the position. For example, creating job listings, screening CVs, and conducting interviews to find the best fit for the company.

PR, on the other hand, targets a much broader audience and aims to create a positive image and reputation for a company, product, or individual. What is crucial is having an understanding of the target audience, as well as the ability to craft and disseminate messages that will resonate with that audience. PR professionals use a variety of tools to achieve this goal, such as press releases, media relations, and social media.

Talking my way into PR
One of the key similarities I’ve found between recruitment and PR is the importance of building relationships. In recruitment, that meant building relationships with job seekers and providers making sure I found the right candidates for open positions. In PR, I need to build relationships with members of the media and other influencers in order to get our clients’ messages out to the public. 

Another similarity between recruitment and PR is the use of storytelling. As a recruiter, I used storytelling to showcase the company culture and workplace benefits to potential job candidates. When working in PR, we do the same to create a positive image and reputation for a company or product. 

Finally, both recruitment and PR involve a lot of networking. Recruitment relies heavily on the need to network with other professionals in order to find the right candidates for open positions, whilst in PR you need to network with members of the media and other influencers in order to get their messages out to the public. 

The move from recruitment to PR should not be as daunting as it sounds
Recruitment and PR involve a lot of multitasking, attention to detail, and time management. Recruiters need to manage multiple job listings, resumes, and interviews at the same time, while PR professionals need to manage multiple projects and deadlines. It might seem like recruitment and PR are vastly different fields, but from my time working in both I’ve found more similarities. Building relationships, storytelling, multitasking, attention to detail, time management, and networking. The ‘gift of the gab’ in tech recruitment, thankfully, set me up to quickly understand the nuances of building relationships with a variety of tech reporters and clients.