Business Communication Careers

Find out about the types of jobs you could pursue in business communication. Read on to learn more about career options along with salary and education information.

What Is Business Communications?

Business communications can be a wide open career field for those interested in working with interpersonal communications between any organization and the public. Some of these could include work as a public relations specialist whose job it is to plan campaigns and promotions to enhance someone's public persona. They could work for an organization helping create ads or commercials that promote a product or service. Technical writers will find work creating training books, how to manuals, and other documents that take complex material and simplify the information. News analysts produce reports, write articles, and create scripts of the news happening locally and around the world. They could find work at news stations, magazines, newspapers or internet news organizations. Professionals who specialize in business communication may work for non-profit organizations, government agencies or private businesses.

Read about the job options available in this field, discover the job outlook of business communication professionals, and review the potential salary in the following table.

	Public Relations Specialist	Technical Writer	News Analyst
Degree Required	Bachelor's degree	Bachelor's degree	Bachelor's degree
Education Field of Study	Communications Public relations Business	English Communications	Journalism English Communications
Key Skills	Outgoing, well spoken, calm	Detail oriented, writing ability, field-specific knowledge	High energy, discerning, detail oriented
Job Growth (2020-2030)	11%*	12%*	6% (for broadcast news analysts)*
Median Salary (2020)	$62,810*	$74,650*	$49,300*

Source: *U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

What Jobs Are Available in Business Communication?

Business communication careers encompass positions where you use your communication and interpersonal skills. Some common jobs in business communication are public relations specialist, technical writer and news analyst. Other jobs include lobbyist, journalist, human resources specialist, speechwriter, government affairs specialist, sales representative, admissions counselor or movie reviewer. You can find work at almost any type of company, including corporate businesses, non-profit companies, educational institutes and government agencies.

What Type of Work Would I Do?

Your typical workday will depend on which aspect of business communication you prefer. As a public relations specialist, you could be working in a team with tight deadlines and long hours. Your job is generally focused on the interactions your company has with the press and with the public, so writing, editing and following communication guidelines are a large aspect of this job.

As a technical writer, you may spend most of your time researching and writing new material. Generally, you will specialize in a certain field like healthcare, education or science. If you work as an independent contract writer, you may also be able to set your own work hours. You could also expect long hours when deadlines approach.

If you are a news analyst, you may spend most of your time screening breaking news stories to cover for a broadcast. Your work hours would vary depending on the company you work for and whether you are a news anchor, tied to a specific broadcasting time, or news writer, tied more closely to deadlines than regular business hours.

How Much Money Can I Make in This Career?

Business communication salaries vary because there are so many different jobs available to you. It can help to take a look at the salaries of common jobs in this category.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported May 2020 that the middle half of public relations specialists earned between $46,630 and $85,380 (www.bls.gov). The BLS also revealed in same year that the middle half of technical writers earned annual salaries between $57,960 and $95,690. The middle half of broadcast news analysts' annual salaries ranged between $32,160 and $80,950, reported by the BLS in May 2020.

What Are Some Related Alternative Careers?

Of all the related careers in business communications requiring bachelor's degrees, editor is atop of the list. Editors review, revise, and finalize content before it can be published. Editors work for newspapers and magazines as well as television and radio or internet organizations. Another field that could have you using your people skills to work with clients or organizations is as an advertising and marketing manager. You could help design ad campaigns and promotions to help sell a product or service; often working with the public, art directors or sales agents.

Technical writers are just a few steps away from becoming regular writers. This could be a stepping stone to a career as a specialty writer of news articles, magazine features or film scripts. In the news business, analysts can easily move to the technical aspect of the news by becoming film and video editors and camera operators. In small markets these video editing and camera operator jobs could be performed by the same person; working behind the camera, capturing the action, and manipulating the footage for screening on air or digitally on the internet.