Question Bank: Public Relations

Are you looking for your purple squirrel in Public Relations? Not to worry, we here are ConveyIQ by Entelo are here to help with some questions that can help you locate your purple squirrel!

Below, you will find questions divided into sub-categories for Public Relations.

Creativity

1. Describe a situation where you made a decision that backfired. If you had to do it over, what would you do differently?
2. Did you always think you were creative or is it something that you discovered later on in life?
3. Give an example of a project you were responsible for starting. What did you do? How did it work out?
4. Give an example of something you recommended that was adopted?
5. Give me an example of when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done?
6. Give me examples of projects/tasks you started on your own?
7. Give some instances in which you anticipated problems and were able to influence a new direction?
8. How did you get work assignments at your most recent employer?
9. How do you express creativity in your life? What is your art? that has this expression brought to your life?
10. How do you go about organizing your work and scheduling your time?
11. How would your boss rate you in terms of creativity?
12. If the latter, how did you discover it? Did you actively seek it out or did it come to you unexpectedly?
13. If you had to live your life over again, what one thing would you change?
14. In the last year, what innovative ideas have you had at work? Were you able to implement them? How were they innovative?
15. What are some creative ways to use press releases for marketing purposes?
16. What changes did you develop at your most recent employer?
17. What have you done to make your job easier or more interesting?
18. What ideas did you contribute to your department? What were the results?
19. What is the most creative thing you have done in a past job? How did it occur?
20. What kinds of things really get your excited?

General

1. Describe a time when you created a press release, bylined articles, case studies, or other communications that were misunderstood by the audience. What did you do about this? What did you learn?
2. Describe your dream client.
3. Describe yourself in three words. How would your friends describe you in three words? Co-workers? Family?
4. Explain green PR.
5. How does the public relations industry benefit from the internet?
6. How do you ensure a successful campaign in a different language?
7. How much information do you need to get started on a new project or assignment?
8. What are buzzwords?
9. What are the various activities done for PR?
10. What do you read?
11. What is a sound bite?
12. What is a survey? What are its uses?
13. What RSS tools are you using? Name the top three sites you visit most often.
14. What’s the best campaign you have seen? What impressed you the most about it?
15. What type of media do you consume in your free time?
16. What was the worst PR campaign that you have seen? What would you have done differently?
17. What would be your ideal client?
18. What would you say your number one quality is?
19. When have you had to produce results without sufficient guidelines or information? What did you do?
20. Why did you choose to attend your college?
21. Why should we hire you?

Leadership

1. Describe your strengths and weaknesses.
2. Give an example of your ability to build motivation in your co-workers, classmates, and even on a volunteer committee.
3. Give me an example of when a co-worker or manager disagreed with the media relations strategy or tactic that you recommended. How did you handle this?
4. Have you ever had difficulty getting others to accept your ideas? What was your approach? Did it work?
5. How has your previous experience and education prepared you for the position of PR Manager with our company?
6. Rate yourself as a public relations manager 1 to 10. Explain your rating.
7. What is the most critical feedback you have ever received?

Most Popular Questions

1. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of the in-house PR department.
2. How is PR different from advertising?
3. How will you respond to criticism?
4. How will your strengths help you in a public relations job?
5. What areas of opportunity do see in PR for our company?
6. What are the basic requirements of a company or project to ensure successful publicity?
7. What are the disadvantages of an advertisement?
8. What are your blind spots?
9. What are your three top websites to visit? What keeps you going back to them?
10. What do you do in your spare time?
11. What is the organization-public relationship?
12. What is the role of advertisements in public relations?
13. What is your biggest PR-related failure and what have you learned from it.
14. What is your most successful campaign to date?
15. What three skills do you have that you think are important for this job, and give me an example of how you used one or two of them in the past?
16. What was the most difficult situation you have been in when responding to media and public inquiries? What made it difficult? How did you handle it?
17. What were your two favorite projects and why?

Teamwork

1. Describe a really difficult person you worked with and how you handled working with that person.
2. Describe the types of teams you have worked in and tell me what worked well and what did not.
3. Give me an example of a situation in which you managed or led a team and were able to create high morale, high productivity workgroup.
4. Give me an example of when a co-worker or manager disagreed with the media relations strategy or tactic that you recommended. How did you handle this?
5. Have you ever had to work with a team of people who did not work well together or did not like each other? Tell me what happened and how you reacted.
6. Some managers encourage people to work together while others encourage direct competition among their people. Tell me about the best manager you have worked for and what approach that person took and what you learned.
7. Tell me about a time when you had difficulty getting others to work together on a critical problem and how you handled it.
8. Tell me about a time when you had to overcome a challenge with an individual or group when developing and executing a PR program to increase awareness and preference for a product and service. What did you do?
9. Tell me when you think it is important for a manager to use a participative style and involve work unit members in making decisions.

Technical

1. Advantages and disadvantages of appointing a PR consultancy.
2. Advantages and disadvantages of the in-house PR department.
3. Define control mutuality.
4. Define Favor and Face.
5. Explain hyperreality.
6. Explain the principle and uses of astroturfing.
7. Give an example of a famous pseudo-event.
8. How are the results of a survey published?
9. How does a public relations manager use a spin effectively?
10. How do you calculate the view-through rate? What has been your most successful view-through rate? What made it so successful?
11. How do you deliver a message in a publicity stunt?
12. How is a talk show useful for public relations?
13. How is PR different from advertising?
14. How is the television Q score calculated?
15. What are the advantages of blogs in public relations and promotion?
16. What are the aspects for a publicity stunt to be successful?
17. What are the disadvantages of blogs?
18. What are the most beneficial types of media in terms of reachability?
19. What are the qualities expected in a PR person?
20. What are the role, nature, and responsibilities of a PR person?
21. What do you know about our company, clients, etc.?
22. What do you mean by Public Relations?
23. What is a desk visit?
24. What is a Flack in public relation terms?
25. What is a pseudo-event and how is it useful for promotions?
26. What is a Q score? What are the forms of Q score?
27. What is a spin?
28. What is the cost per conversion? Historically, what is your average CPC?
29. What is interactive PR? What are the various elements comprising interactive PR?
30. What is the purpose of a Public Relations person?
31. What is the view-through rate?
32. What’s the best/worst campaign in your opinion?
33. When and how should a spin be used?