PR executives are listed among those who stare down death daily. Topping CareerCast’s annual chart for the most stressful careers are: enlisted military personnel, firefighter, airline pilot and police officer.
Licensed to thrill
Spots from 6 to 10 were much less marked by opportunities for encounters with bodily, but instead relied more on well-honed communications skills: broadcaster, event coordinator, news reporter, PR executive, senior corporate executive, taxi driver. The survey’s criteria for what makes jobs stressful was broken down into 11 categories, including thrills and spills like Risk of Death or Grievous Injury, Immediate Risk of Another’s Life, Hazards Encountered, and subtler obstacles too, namely Travel, Career Growth Potential, Deadlines, Working in the Public Eye, Meeting the Public, and Competition, plus the it-depends categories of Physical Demands, Environmental Conditions.
Deadlines of greater concern than risk of death
Although some jobs involve great potential risk to one’s personal safety, the greater danger day by day is that of meeting deadlines, which was the greatest cause of stress for of 38% of respondents. Moreover, almost 80% of those surveyed gave the level of stress on their job 7 out of 10 of more on a scale of 1 to 10. This is a big surge from the nearly 70% mentioned on the 2017 stress survey.
Pitfalls of being a digital publicist
In a stressful profession rife with the disruptive and potentially lucrative intrusion of digital influencers, PR execs live in uncertain times. The threats posed by fake news and distrust of media can wreak havoc. But the potential for big payoffs is profound for those who find the right balance and use big data to their advantage…
The Human & Digital Communications Agency
Our award-winning communications team blends human interactions & digital engagement seamlessly to produce results for brands.
