From social media posts and casual conversations with friends to work presentations and ads on YouTube, communication is all around us. Knowing how to effectively communicate with others is a valuable skill that can complement a variety of career pathways. Communication programs similar to the one offered at Berry College teach students visual storytelling and reporting as part of their curriculum. Holding a communication degree demonstrates your refined verbal and written skills. These skills prepare you to effectively and accurately share ideas with others. They also prepare you to actively listen to others and tailor your message and delivery to suit your target audience. 

With a degree in communication, your ability to research and synthesize information and see things from multiple perspectives can make you a valuable asset across industries such as marketing or public relations. 

What Job Can You Get with a Communication Degree?

Your skill set is flexible enough to complement a wide range of career paths. For a career you’re sure to love, consider combining your communication skills with a secondary specialty. This could be digital media, reporting, or even overseeing personnel within a company.

Social Media Strategist

As a social media strategist, you’ll create, plan, and oversee the content produced for online markets. You’ll use a mix of market research, client branding, and competitor research to help your clients stand out from the competition on social media platforms like Meta, LinkedIn, and more. You’ll also monitor and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) such as form sign-ups or brand mentions to track a campaign’s performance. 

You’ll help your clients retain their existing audience while also attracting a new audience. Additionally, you’ll explore social media trends to find better ways to engage with your client’s audience, build a community, and increase brand loyalty. Each new campaign you create should strive to capture and recapture your audience through the use of strategic storytelling.

Depending on your industry and budget, you may leverage your connection with popular influencers as part of a campaign strategy. Having a well-known figure promote a product or service can help improve a campaign’s performance.

Due to the nature of your work as a social media strategist, you’ll interact with a wide range of departments including:

• Copywriters
• Graphic designers
• Marketing teams
• Product development teams
• Sales teams
• SEO strategists

Public Relations Specialist

As a public relations specialist, you’ll use a mix of press releases and social media campaigns to create and maintain a positive public image for your clients. This serves the dual purpose of increasing awareness for your clients and shaping how the general public views them. In this role, you’ll closely monitor the public’s opinion on various media channels and interact with the audience by answering questions, addressing concerns, or posting announcements. 

In this role, you’ll create and implement a crisis communication plan. This will allow you to quickly react and effectively communicate in the event of crises that include, but are not limited to:

• Bankruptcy.
• Major staff or organizational changes. 
• Technological outages responsible for delaying productivity.
• Procedural changes.

To reduce the chances of a client’s image being negatively impacted, you’ll closely examine potential promotions or ads to ensure they align with your client’s public image. If negative press begins to circulate, you’ll step in to mitigate the crisis and begin repairing the client’s image. This can be accomplished through press releases, announcements on social media or scheduling an interview with a well-known journalist. 

You’ll vet the questions ahead of time and coach your client through the process to ensure they accurately convey themselves and their brand to their audience. You’ll need to work well under rapidly changing circumstances, stay on top of online articles and videos and be aware of current events. 

Brand Manager

Brand managers oversee a brand’s identity, its values, and its target market. In this role, you’ll ensure existing and new content is created around these values and aligns with your client’s goals. You’ll regularly conduct market research to better understand your client’s products and competitors to understand where your clients fit in their industry. 

You’ll oversee designs for print and digital ad concepts as well as target different parts of the marketing funnel. You’ll need to monitor the audience’s reaction to your client’s brand and create strategies that will continuously improve this reaction over time. Behind the scenes, you’ll aim to promote brand consistency and relevance by building brand style guides, identifying a client’s value props, and monitoring their standing within the industry. 

No matter how big the client is, there will always be room for improvement. As a brand manager, you’ll strive to identify and find ways to close the gaps. You’ll likely work with copywriters, graphic designers, and marketing teams to create on-brand content that builds awareness and helps them stand out from the competition.

Human Resource Specialist   

Human resource (HR) specialists serve as liaisons between a business, potential employees, and current employees. You’ll work closely with employers to better understand their needs and screen and interview job applicants based on these needs. In this role, you’ll guide applicants through their orientation and inform them of their compensation, benefits, working conditions, and more. 

You’ll oversee regular employee performance reviews and create more effective training plans for employees. If an employee has an issue with or questions related to their job, you’ll help resolve these issues swiftly and professionally. In this position, you’ll strive to improve communication between a company and its employees and create and maintain a positive work environment for employees.

Fostering a positive work environment may include organizing company events, refreshing training programs, or creating recognition programs. Behind the scenes, you’ll update employee records to reflect employment status changes or new hire information. Depending on the company, you may be expected to handle payroll and keep a list of budgets for each department.

Your multi-faceted and easily adaptable skill set can work with any career path you choose to pursue. Combining your strong communication skills with secondary interests can help you find a career catered to your interests. Whether you’re using your skills for digital marketing or to improve morale at an existing company, your skill set can prepare you for success.

By understanding your audience, using strategic storytelling, and staying on top of current events, you can thrive in any role you choose.