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2016 PR SALARY SURVEY
Reuben Sinclair is a specialist PR recruitment agency based in the City of London. This salary report is a mid-year check in for PR professionals based in London and the Home Counties. The data has been gathered from the 2015 salary survey and our own internal database.
CONTENTS
Page 3: An Overview of the Current PR Job Market
Page 4: The Survey Responders
Page 5: Agency Side Vs Client Side PR Salaries
Page 6: PR Salaries by Industry
Page 7: 8 Tips for Getting What You Want
Page 8: The Most Popular Benefits
Page 9: Additional Benefits Offered by Employers
Page 10: Pensions - What You Need to Know
Page 11: Contact Details
An overview of the current PR industry
• High demand / growth areas • Shift towards integrated PR • Defining your worth – the value of metrics
This document was designed to give PR professionals a more statistical insight into your market value in 2016 – but we also wanted to give you our professional opinion on the PR market, and how that’s directly affecting the salary you take home.
Dare I say it, 2015 was a good year for PR. In particular, PR agencies seemed to be briefing us on more growth roles due to new business wins, rather than replacements for people leaving, representing the influx of income into the sector. However, fewer people seemed to be moving around, meaning the ‘war for talent’ was at its peak. What does that mean for you? Luckily, it means you are at your most valuable, to both your current and future employers. The shortage of talent means employers have had to accept that they may need to offer over and above previous market rates to ensure candidates join them, and aren’t successfully counter-offered by their current company. This phenomenon was particularly prevalent within certain sectors: notably, technology, finance and healthcare. This is unsurprising, given these are the areas that a driving the UK’s economy as a whole, but the rapid growth in these areas in general means the demand for talent far outweighs the number of candidates looking for roles. Companies in these sectors need to ensure their employer branding, salaries and benefits, and training of juniors are competitive, or else the growth is going to continue exponentially in relation to the talent.
We’ve also noticed a huge shift in skill set requirements and the effect this has on salary demands. It’s no secret that traditional PR as we once knew it is now not enough. PR campaigns must be insight and research-led, content driven and delivered across multiple channels. This means candidates able to demonstrate fully integrated skill sets have been able to demand higher salaries due to the added value they can deliver to new employers.
Finally, it has become evident that employers are no longer focussed on ideas and creativity, they’re focussed on the results of those ideas. PR was once considered a ‘fluffy’ industry, and not always commercial. Not anymore. Candidates that are able to prove the ROI of their PR campaigns, and the tangible value they have added to a brand, put themselves in a far stronger position. This isn’t to say that creativity is no longer needed, but if you can’t back this up with metrics, then you can be overlooked in favour of those that can.
If the beginning of this year is anything to go by, 2016 will be building upon the growth of 2015, with an increase in PR job vacancies, and further value placed on an integrated skill set and tangible achievements. We’re certainly off to a busy start and feel positive about the PR market in general.
About the author: Alexandra Lewington is Client Services Manager at Reuben Sinclair and works closely with the some of the biggest names in PR, growing their team with expert PR professionals. @AlexLewingtonPR / [email protected] / 0203 826 1222/
WHO WERE THE RESPONDENTS?
35% In House
65% Agency Side
VERTICALS Technology 31% / Financial/Professional Services 27% / Food & Drink 20% / Health & Beauty 16% / Property 11% / Not for Profit 10% / Fashion 9% /
Healthcare 9% / Other 24%
JOB TITLES PR Assistant / Account Executive / PR
Executive / Account Manager / PR Manager / Account Director / Director of PR / Associate Director / Head of PR / Head of Communications / Director of
Communications / C-Level
LOCATION London and the Home Counties
Client Vs Agency Side PR Salaries
PR Assistant
Account Executive
Account Manager
Account Director
Associate Director
C-Level
£18,000 - £20,000
£18,000 - £26,000
£24,000 - £41,000
£35,000 - £55,000
£60,000 - £80,000
£70,000 - £150,000
Agency Side
Client SidePR Assistant
PR Executive
PR Manager
Account Director
Head of PR
C-Level
£18,000 - £20,000
£21,000 - £42,000
£22,000 - £51,000
£35,000 - £55,000
£30,000 - £80,000
£80,000 - £250,000
Typically it is thought that client side PR roles are slightly better paid than the agency side equivalent. Our salary survey suggests that this might be true at the more senior end of each level, for example whilst agency side Account Managers are getting paid a maximum of £41,000 (this is likely to be at Senior Account Manager level), In House PR Managers are being paid up to £51,000. The comparison is, however, difficult to make based on title alone as often In House PR teams are a lot smaller and therefore their ‘PR Manager’ may actually be running the PR function and have 10 years’ experience, showing titles don’t necessarily correlate between the two. Another thing to consider, is that due to client side PR teams being smaller, individuals often have to wait for someone above them to leave before they can be promoted, meaning progression is generally slower. So although salaries might appear to be comparatively higher than a like for like agency role, you may have to wait longer to progress to the next level, and during this time your agency side counterparts may have had a salary increase to match or exceed you.
8 Tips For Getting What You Want Getting what you deserve is not a simple as it seems, here are some factors to consider:
1. Do your personal finances
Before you work out what you deserve, a good starting point is to start from the base point of; ‘what do I need?’. It sounds obvious however breaking down your personal outgoings will help you calculate the absolute base line of what you’re willing to accept.
2. Work on the master copy of your CV
Create a master copy of your CV (a non-edited down version). This is a great starting point to visualise and remember all the skills and experience you’ve gathered through your hard work over the years. Don’t forget to add your facts and figures as you go.
3. Recommendations are key
Similar to winning awards, references that back up your quality are a great strings to your added value bow. The more your references can highlight your achievements and demonstrate the value you can add the better.
4. Speak to your current employer
Before you can understand your value to other companies you must first get an understanding of the value you add to your current employer and it takes a little gumption to do this. However asking your current boss directly ‘do you feel I’m paid in line with the value I’m adding to the business?’ is a fair question. If your boss struggles to answer you then it a good sign something may need to be addressed.
5. Be aware of your personal brand
From your social media profile picture to your telephone manner, you’re constantly being judged. Be sure to work on your personal brand and remove anything searchable online that might turn potential employers off.
6. Do your research
Research the industry you’re interviewing in compared to your skill set and experience. There are many ways to do this and a mixture of online research and conversations with recruiters you trust will quickly help in understanding what is out there for your experience in a specific industry.
7. Be open at the start of a recruitment process
Don’t commit to a salary level too early – the reality is that you will have to interview before you get all the information you need. If you leave salary conversations to the end of the process, clients will also get more time to fall in love with you, increasing your demand and ultimately how much they’d be willing to pay you.
8. Ironically, remember it’s not all about the offer
Don’t jump at the basic salary – consider that if you get a high basic salary without negotiating and understanding the other parts of joining the company or the benefits package, you could find yourself in a role that looks good to begin with but doesn’t offer any promotion for some time.
About the Author: Alex Robinson is the Director of PR & Digital at Reuben Sinclair Ltd and has over five years recruiting PR professionals. @AlexMRobbo / [email protected] / 0203 826 1221
PR Salaries by Industry
Lowest Paid
Financial/Professional Services
Technology
Consumer Lifestyle
Property
Food & Drink
Health & Beauty
Fashion
Highest Paid
A shortage of talent in industry sectors growing quickly has resulted in inflated salaries. Often the shortage of PR talent in certain industries is due to a lack of education at a junior / entry level. Industries like professional services and B2B technology are perceived as being dry with a lack of creativity. The reality is often very different, with high profile influencers, social media and integrated content being utilised in all sectors – many are referring to ‘human to human’ campaigns now, as opposed to B2B or B2C. The PR industry in general needs to make a concerted effort to ensure they are attracting junior talent across the board, and not just into the areas that are perceived as generally more appealing. One thing to note on the results of the PR salaries by industry sector is that ‘health and beauty’ is down as one of the lowest industry sectors. This may be surprising, given that ethical and corporate healthcare PR roles are usually paid well. However, we believe this is due to salaries in beauty PR generally being below par (probably due to its general appeal, and therefore the increased number of candidates in the industry), bringing the category’s average down.
The Most Common Benefits
Pension
Bonus
Healthcare
None
Travel Loan
Life Insurance
Childcare Vouchers
Car Allowance
Other
0% 15% 30% 45% 60%
Read the overview on the 2016 Auto Enrolment Pension Scheme on page 10.
Additional Benefits Offered by Employers
Free/discounted Gym Membership Dental CoverFlexi-time Local DiscountsBeauty treatments Travel Insurance
Pensions: What You Need to Know In April 2016, the auto enrolment pension came into play. Below is a breakdown of what this means for you now and in the future and what you can do to maximise your pension.
The basics
Up until April 2018 everybody that is enrolled in the pension scheme will make a total minimum contribution of 2%, with your employer making a minimum contribution of 1%. Employers can choose to pay the full amount and if your employer decides to do this, you won’t have to pay anything.
This percentage is then set to increase to a total minimum personal contribution of 8% by April 2019, with a 3% employer minimum contribution.
What does this actually mean?
So let’s take the average London PR agency Account Manager salary of £33,000. If your employer was to pay 3% (the minimum employer contribution as of April 2019) this would put (£990) into your pension pot each year. You would then personally contribute 5% (£1650) bringing you up to the 8% total minimum contribution.
What does a £2640 pension contribution per year get you in the long run?
If you pay £2640 in to your pension over 40 years (25-65), you could be left with a final pension pot of £147,634.
This might sound like a lot, but this would actually only equate to pay out an average of £6,914 per year in your retirement. 1
So what can you do to boost your pension?
Save on tax and save for later:
• Putting additional money into your pension each month actually means you pay less tax. All pension contributions are tax free, so by paying £100 in to your pension pot you would only feel £80 poorer.
• For higher rate taxpayers, this falls even further to effectively £60 or £55.
Save sooner rather than later:
• Someone who starts saving at the age of 21 and then stops at 30 will end up with a bigger pension pot than a saver who starts at 30 and puts money aside for the next 40 years until retiring at 70.
• Reinvested compound interest means that by putting £2,500 a year into a pension from 21 till 30 at a 7pc interest rate will leave your pension pot £19,000 larger than someone who has invested the same sum from 31 to 70, even though they will have paid £75,000 less into their pension pot 2
What’s next?
Start saving and accounting for compound interest today. One coffee today will be 7 tomorrow. 3
About the Author: Rohan Shah is Co-Founder of Reuben Sinclair Ltd and has over ten years experience recruiting for the C-level and management teams of business across the UK. [email protected] / 0203 826 1206
As per www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk pension calculator - these figures were correct as of 16th May 20161
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/10742396/When-saving-for-10-years-pays-more-than-saving-for-40.html2
Subject to 7% compound interest over 40 years, with 1 cup of coffee being £33
Hopefully this snapshot report has informed you appropriately of your current position within the PR market in London.
If you would like to discuss the contents in more detail or speak to one of our PR Consultants in regards to your career options please do so:
0203 826 1206
reuben-sinclair.com
