1. I chose something I am interested in possibly someday going in to, the field of public relations; it’s not my first choice but wanted to find other information on something else besides what I currently do. I see public relations as essential to any organization, whether it is in the form of simple press releases to speeches; someone has got to do it. It was very easy to navigate through the O*Net site. I typed “Public Relations” into the search box, and within seconds, I could see that the Public Relations Managers, with median wages in 2010 of $43.12 hourly or $89,690 annually. When I went back to the list, the second career listed was “Public Relations Specialist,” with a pay rate of $24.98 hourly, or $51,960 annually As I scrolled through those wages pages, I could see that while the amount of expected vacancies for Public Relations Directors is “Average (7% to 13%),” the outlook for Public Relations Specialists is “Much faster than average (20% or higher)” The page even gave a link to its source—The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which gave alternate names for the position: “communications specialists and media specialists.” Among the reported titles that O*Net gave me, I think I’d like to be either a Public Relations Coordinator for a non-profit agency, helping get information out about programs that are available; or a Corporate Communications Specialist at a large, international company, informing the world about the company, its product or services, and helping to find creative ways to generate interest in the company and increase the size of the customer base in the process.

The Job Zone and Education pages were confusing, though. Both jobs require the same experience, skills, knowledge and abilities. However, I typically think of a ‘”Manager” as someone who has more knowledge than a Specialist might have (thus the almost $40,000 salary