Sure, work is stressful, but I wouldn’t rate a PR pro as the No. 2 most stressful job behind a commercial airline pilot—as was recently reported by CareerCast. I’m sure there are many commercial airline pilots who don’t think they have the most stressful job either. Job stress and job satisfaction are relative and everyone’s job is stressful in its own right.
My friends in other professions concur – nurses, teachers, corporate and government executives, small business owners, engineers, stay-at-home moms – they all have stress. My professional stresses are rude reporters, tracking a 24X7 news cycle and client turnover.
But, at the end of the day, whether you are in PR or any other profession, you take the good with the bad. Hopefully, there are enough highs to outweigh the lows. For me, there are plenty of professional highs. For example:
- Landing a big story – Every client and industry has a different “holy grail” of media coverage but once you get it – or even something close – everything else seems good in the world.
- Developing relationships with reporters – While plenty of reporters are flip, others appreciate a symbiotic relationship with PR. It is rewarding when you develop a collaborative relationship with a reporter and share ideas.
- Helping businesses create an identity – Whether the businesses we help are large or small, they are all looking for visibility. Working with a largely unknown company and helping them get on the radar of their target audience – and get due credit for their expertise through our media strategies – is truly gratifying.
On days like this, life is good.