Top 6 PR Recruiters: Best Headhunters for a Public Relations Career
The PR industry is growing, and good firms are seeing double-digit increases in revenues year over year, even through the recession and sluggish recovery. So, most good firms are on the lookout for outstanding talent. If you have what they want, whether you are looking to start in PR work or are a seasoned professional, these recruiting firms have the contacts to move you forward to your next victory.
Take advantage of their resources. And remember, nothing is as attractive to others, whether they are potential employers, friends, or future relations, as confidence – not cockiness – but an assurance you have the skills needed to do a job well.
If you are looking for a job in the PR field, whether for a PR firm or another type of industry hiring a PR and marketing specialist, we put together a list of some of the best recruiters to make life easier. Here are six in alpha order – with a bit of information about them to get you started. And for those looking for a job, these companies are hired by the firms looking for staff, so there is no charge to you for their services.
Bloom Gross & Associates
Bloom Gross and Associates have more than 25 years’ experience in PR and marketing specialist recruitment. They are a boutique provider only offering PR and marketing job recruitment. They have a national presence so can help no matter where the job is located. Bloom Gross, also produces the PR Week salary survey.
PRWeek lists Bloom Gross as one of the top 10 PR recruiting organizations in the U.S. Also, several MBA and graduate programs list them as a top resource for those looking for a job in the PR and marketing field. According to their website, “Integrity is our guiding principle. We value long-term partner relationships with our clients and our candidates.”
At their site, you can upload your resume directly, search for jobs, check out their blog for information and advice. Go to career-resources for helpful tips and hints. Also you can check the current salary surveys and additional information to help your search. They have the contacts to find the job you’ve trained for and in the location you want to be.
Heyman Associates Inc.
Heyman has offices in New York City, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Melbourne, though offices outside the U.S. are contacted through their website. They also produce a helpful newsletter called Positioning. Heyman Associates focuses their efforts for the more senior team members in PR firms acting as “headhunters” for the industry.
Because their efforts are centered on that segment of the talent pool, they also offer resources to upper management level personnel on more effective ways of accomplishing common job responsibilities. They have ongoing senior level positions they’re looking to fill for their clients. Also, Heyman has an association with Taylor Bennett in the U.K and Asia Pacific, if you are looking for a job farther afield.
Heyman places a strong emphasis on listening to what clients want, finding out all of what is most important in candidates. Then they take the time to have in-depth meetings with candidates. “We look them in the eye. We explore motivations, weigh strengths and weaknesses, and probe colleagues’ impressions. We know that certain personality traits make for success in media and public relations while others might be better suited for investor relations, public affairs or internal communications roles.”
Howard Sloan Koller Group
This company assists publishing, media, advertising, and entertainment sectors, working with PR, online media, entertainment, and financial companies in their search for top-quality talent. They have offices in New York City and Los Angeles. Building a distinguished history in recruiting for PR and Advertising going back to the mid-70’s and have been considered top-tier experts for decades.
HSK also focuses on senior-level talent recruitment. HSK claims they know “how to find stellar professionals–both market leaders as well as hidden gems–to create, produce, design, distribute, promote, brand, syndicate, and sell against those messages. While searching for exceptional skills is always HSK’s first priority, recommending candidates who share a client company’s culture, mindset and long-term goals is critical as well.”
HSK sports an impressive and long list of clients, past and present, including the Huffington Post, Leo Burnett ARC, Comcast Interactive Media, Pandora.com, Daily Mail Group, ESPN ABC Sports Entertainment, and Thomson Reuters Media. Check out their list of current job openings at current-opportunities.
Phifer & Company
With a track record working for top agencies like Digitas, Porter Novelli, Mullen, and IQ, Brian Phifer decided to become the boss. He opened Phifer & Co. in New York City to create a firm focused on honesty, locating high-level talent, building relationships, and having some fun in the process. The firm has additional offices in Los Angeles and London and helps the best find jobs they’ll love.
It doesn’t matter if you are looking for an internship position or a CEO opening, his team is excited to be a catalyst for the changes you seek. Their corporate client list is long, but PR firms represented include Weber Shandwick, Pollock Communications, PPR Worldwide, and Hill+Knowlton. If you are ready to start that journey – either to find a job or find an employee, you can contact them at PhiferCompany.
Phifer discovers the core values of companies for culture, management, teams, and the future direction of the company. When it comes to placement in a firm, they want to bring candidates excited by that work. In turn, they want candidates to find the perfect fit for their dream job, not just someplace to hand their hat until the next good offer comes along.
PR Talent
Like it sounds, this agency specializes in recruiting PR people. Their offices are in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and London. They are the world’s largest PR recruiting and talent pool company (according to their website). When you visit the site, you can search jobs by location, job level, industry & practice, and specialty & skills.
PR Talent likes to think of themselves as PR matchmakers. They talk with people actively and passively looking for a new position, find out their goals, skills, experience, and bring them opportunities to talk with companies providing the best fit for those as well as a culture where the worker can thrive and push the company forward because of that fit.
Past clients have included Mattel, Dun & Bradstreet, MWW, Boston Scientific, Finn Partners, Zeno Group, GSK, Carnival Cruise Lines, CAA, Real D, Latham & Watkins, Waggener Edstrom, Cohn & Wolf, and Ketchum. Go to PR talent to check out the current openings.
Spring Associates, Inc.
They offer several resources to help your job search including their Official Public Relations Salary & Bonus Report. They also offer a free resume critique service online. Without even joining the site you can see the host of employers they have worked with over the years, so use this site for a resource if nothing else. Spring Associates has compiled a list of over 22K credentialed PR workers over the years (credentialed means they’ve worked in the PR industry for at least one year recently).
SA’s office is in New York, but they offer jobs throughout the U.S. and around the world and has been offering their services for over 30 years. SA also offers, along with executive search services, communications audits, client and agency reviews, mergers and acquisitions, and PR agency selection searches.
Their PR specialty areas include consumer marketing, investor relations, public affairs, corporate communications, speechwriting, marketing communications, financial communications, media relations, employee communications, medical and healthcare, tech, recently added non-profit, and more. Some of the many and varied clients they’ve worked with include Citibank, Deloitte & Touche, Swatch, American Express, Cushman & Wakefield, Latham & Watkins, and CBS.
