Part $2$: Case study: Read and answer questions below:

Careers in Public Relations "Robust" and Increasingly Integrated

The job market in public relations outlook went from "bleak to cautiously optimistic to positively robust" in the years $2009,2010,$ and $2011,$ according to PR Week. This positive trajectory is good news for the communications industry, which includes public relations, advertising, and marketing. But the PR landscape is complicated and ever$-$changing. A number of game$-$changing shifts have occurred in recent years, including the ascendancy of ad agencies that are increasingly offering their clients public relations counsel. On the global stage, it was an advertising agency that won the PR Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in $2010$ and

$2011.$ But it's not as simple as suggesting that advertising is elbowing its way into traditional public relations' space. It's more accurate to suggest that public relations firms and advertising agencies are, with increasing frequency, combining efforts to offer integrated communications solutions. Global public relations firm Fleishman$-$Hillard CEO Dave Senay told PRWeek, $"$We have more than $100$ collaborations underway right now with non$-$PR agencies.... We are also increasingly pitching as part of integrated teams, often with ad agencies in the mix." What does all this mean for new public relations practitioners? It means that strategic integration of communications campaigns is increasingly important. It means that opportunities are strong for novice practitioners. It means that public relations professionals should expect to work with advertising and marketing colleagues and must, therefore, speak their language.

Now back to the topic of the "positively robust nature of public relations. Both internal departments and public relations firms have been going on hiring sprees lately. For example, Edelman told the trade publication that it added $274$ full$-$time employees in the first half of $2011.$

And the agency's chief recruiter said that during that time frame, Edelman always had at least $125$ openings. Entry$-$level pay is creeping up and rapid promotion is the norm. According to PRWeek's annual salary survey, for public relations practitioners ages $21$ to $25,$ the median salary in $2011$ was $$38,000,$ up a little over $$1,000$ from the previous year. For practitioners in the next age bracket $(26$ to $30$ years old$),$ the median salary increased to $$56,000,$ and then to $$85,000$ for those $31$ to $35$ years old.

$$What does it mean that the communications function is increasingly "integrated"?

$$Why is social media know$-$how a must in today's hiring environment?

$$What evidence can you cite that supports the statement that public relations is a robust profession?