Questions to Ask in a PR Interview
For candidates interviewing for a public relations job, at an agency or in-house, who want to leave knowing what the work is really like. The questions follow the order the conversation tends to take: the accounts you would work on, media relations and who pitches, how results are measured, the team and your account load, crisis work and out-of-hours expectations, then growth and the close. Each has a note on what a good or a worrying answer sounds like, and where the answer depends on the employer, the note says to ask how it works there.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Accounts
Which clients or accounts would I work on from the first week?
Why ask it
A good answer names them, or names the sector when a contract keeps the client confidential. 'It depends on what comes in' can mean the role fills gaps across the floor, so ask which account most needs another pair of hands today. In-house, ask which products, leaders or business units you would be speaking for.
How much of the role is media relations, and how much is content, social media, events or internal communications?
Why ask it
PR job titles cover very different jobs. Ask for a rough split in an ordinary month, because someone who wants to pitch reporters and ends up scheduling social posts will be looking again within the year. A vague 'a bit of everything' is common on small teams and fine if variety is what you want.
What does an ordinary week look like for the person in this seat?
Why ask it
A PR week has a rhythm, and a good answer describes it: a scan of the morning's coverage, client calls on fixed days, pitching when there is a story, the report at month end. If most of it is clipping coverage and updating media lists, ask at what point people start drafting and pitching under their own name.
What do the clients I would work on want from PR this year?
Why ask it
'Awareness' is what people say when nobody has asked the client. A launch, a funding round, a reputation to repair or a new market each fill the week with different work, and each gives the client a different way to decide whether it worked.
What would you want me to have done by the end of my first three months?
Why ask it
Coverage arrives slowly, so a fair answer sticks to things you control: knowing the client's business, being on speaking terms with the reporters who matter, a first story placed. A coverage target in month one for a client with nothing to announce tells you expectations here are set by hope.
How long has the agency held the accounts I would join, and why did the last client leave?
Why ask it
Jobs at an agency tend to follow the accounts, so clients of many years mean steady work and a roster that turns over quickly means pitching for replacements on top of the day job. A budget cut or a new marketing chief with a favorite agency is an ordinary reason to lose a client, and an interviewer who blames the client for everything is telling you about the agency. In-house, ask how long the communications team has existed and who built it.
Is the work on these accounts mostly retainer, or project by project?
Why ask it
Retainers bring a monthly rhythm and time to get to know the reporters on a beat. Project work comes in bursts around launches, with quiet stretches and more chasing of the next contract in between. Neither is the better job, but they suit different temperaments, so decide which you would rather live in.
How much direct contact with clients would I have, and from when?
Why ask it
At some agencies junior staff write for months before they join a call. Ask who presents the monthly report and who the client emails when something goes wrong. An answer with a milestone in it is worth more than 'when you are ready'.
Which account is the hardest to work on at the moment, and what makes it hard?
Why ask it
Every team has one, and an interviewer who says why is being straight with you: a client with nothing new to say, a contact who keeps changing, a budget too small for the ambition. The worrying version is a client who is rude to junior staff while nobody senior steps in, so ask who handles it.
Does the agency turn clients down, and what was the last one it said no to?
Why ask it
A firm with a line, whether on sector, behavior or budget, spares its staff from accounts they cannot defend. If nothing has ever been refused, ask whether you could decline to work on a client whose business you object to. The in-house version is which subjects the company has chosen to stay quiet on.
Media
Who does the pitching here: junior staff, account leads, or a separate media relations team?
Why ask it
Some teams have new hires pitching in their first week. Others keep reporter relationships with directors or a media desk and have juniors draft. The two teach different skills, so if pitching is the one you want, ask how many pitches you would send in a normal week and who reads them before they go.
Which outlets and reporters does the team already have a working relationship with?
Why ask it
You are hoping for named publications, beats, perhaps a reporter someone spoke to this week, and a claim to know everyone is a sales line. Follow up by asking how a newcomer gets introduced: whether contacts are shared around the team or each person starts from nothing.
How are media lists built and kept current?
Why ask it
The answer shows whether the team pitches narrowly or by the hundred. A short list researched for each story is slower and gets replies. A database export sent to everyone on it is how reporters come to block a sender, and the sender would be you.
Which media database and monitoring tools does the team pay for, and would I have my own login?
Why ask it
These subscriptions cost enough that small teams often share one login, or go without and build lists by hand from bylines. Neither is a deal-breaker, but it changes how long a media list or a coverage report takes you. If you have used a particular tool, say so here, since it is a skill they would otherwise have to teach.
Can you walk me through a recent pitch that landed, from the idea to the published story?
Why ask it
This is the real process told as a story: who found the angle, who wrote it, how many reporters were approached and how long it took. If the best example is over a year old, or turns out to have been a paid placement, note it. Then ask what they would do differently next time.
What happens when a client wants to announce something that is not news?
Why ask it
Few PR jobs go long without this. The answer you want is that someone senior tells the client so, or that the team digs for a real angle such as data, a customer or a trend. If the release goes out anyway, the goodwill being spent with reporters is yours.
How does the team respond when a reporter gets a fact wrong, or runs a story the client hates?
Why ask it
Asking for a factual correction is ordinary work. Being told to complain about a fair but unflattering story, or to threaten a reporter's access, costs you your own name with journalists, and that name goes with you to the next job.
What happens here when a client asks the team to tell a reporter something that is not true?
Why ask it
Your name is on the email to the reporter, so the firm's line becomes yours. Declining to comment and holding news under embargo are ordinary practice and misleading a reporter is not, so listen for whether the interviewer draws that distinction unprompted. The reassuring answer comes fast, with an example in which a senior person had the conversation with the client.
How much of the coverage is earned, and how much comes from paid partnerships, sponsored content or influencers?
Why ask it
Plenty of teams do both, and the skills differ: one is persuasion, the other is budgets and contracts. Ask how paid placements are shown in client reports and how sponsored posts are labeled for readers, since disclosure rules differ by country and platform. Paid work counted alongside earned coverage without a label is an awkward conversation with the client waiting to happen.
Who speaks to the press on the record, and who prepares them?
Why ask it
Briefing a spokesperson is one of the more senior skills in the trade, and writing the briefing notes is how most people start learning it. Ask whether someone at your level sits in on interviews or only hears about them afterward.
Results
How do you measure whether the PR is working?
Why ask it
The stronger answers tie back to what the client wanted: stories in a short list of target outlets, key messages appearing in the coverage, inquiries or site visits after a piece runs. A clip count or one large reach figure alone says little. Ask which measure the client looks at first.
What goes into the monthly client report, and who builds it?
Why ask it
Often the answer to the second half is you. Ask how long it takes and which tools pull the coverage together, since a report assembled by hand from screenshots can eat days every month. It also helps to hear what the client does with it once it arrives.
Do client reports here still include advertising value equivalents or raw impressions?
Why ask it
Many teams have moved away from advertising value equivalents (AVEs) and impression totals because they describe size and not effect, though some clients still ask for them. Using them is no reason to walk out. What matters is whether the interviewer has a view on it and what they would rather show.
How do you set a new client's expectations about what coverage is realistic?
Why ask it
Overpromising at the sales stage is a bill the account team pays later. A firm that tells new clients how long results take, and puts it in the proposal, hands you an account you can succeed on. If the winning pitch promised national coverage within weeks, ask who is expected to deliver it.
When a month produces little coverage, how is that explained to the client, and who delivers the news?
Why ask it
Quiet months come to every account. An honest list of what was pitched, why it did not land and what changes next is the grown-up version. Padding the report with minor mentions, or sending the most junior person to explain alone, are the two to worry about.
What would I personally be held to: placements, pitches sent, billable hours, or something else?
Why ask it
People do what is counted. Placements depend partly on the client having news, a pitch count rewards volume, and hours reward looking busy. Whatever the answer, ask how the target moves in a month when the client has nothing to announce.
Which piece of work from the past year is the team proudest of, and what did it change for the client?
Why ask it
The second half is the real question. A team that can say what followed the coverage, such as sales calls, job applicants or a calmer page of search results, is measuring outcomes. If the story ends with the clip, ask how the client judged it.
Team and load
How is an account team put together, and who would I answer to day to day?
Why ask it
With several accounts you may have a different lead on each, and their deadlines will collide. Find out who decides between them and who writes your review. Be wary if nobody in the room is sure.
How many accounts does someone in this role carry at once?
Why ask it
The number means little without the size, so ask for the hours behind each one. Two or three large accounts let you learn a business properly, while a long list of small ones means switching all day, with much of the week going to status calls and reports. In-house, ask how many brands or internal teams you would serve.
What is the billable-hours target, and how close does the team usually come to it?
Why ask it
Agencies sell time, so most set a target for the share of the week that is charged to clients. Ask what counts toward it, because training, internal meetings and pitching for new business often do not and land on top. In-house teams rarely keep timesheets, so ask there how workload is judged.
What happens when an account runs over its hours?
Why ask it
Doing more than the client pays for is known in the trade as over-servicing. The extra hours can be written off, billed, or quietly absorbed by the team in the evenings. The answer to hope for is a senior person who reviews hours each month and goes back to the client about scope.
How many people approve a press release or a statement before it goes out, and who has the last word?
Why ask it
Count the steps as they answer: account lead, client contact, the client's lawyers, an executive. A long chain makes news go stale while you chase signatures. Ask how long the last release took from first draft to send, and in a regulated sector, how the compliance review works there.
How much of the writing would be mine, and who edits it?
Why ask it
Writing is the skill most PR people are hired on. A named editor who sends drafts back marked up, with reasons, will make you better quickly. Work that goes out unread, or comes back rewritten with no explanation, teaches you nothing either way.
How is the team using AI tools for drafting, research or monitoring, and what are the rules?
Why ask it
A clear policy says what may be put into a tool, who checks the output and whether clients are told. Rules differ by employer and by client contract, so ask how it works on the accounts you would join. Having no rules at all is worth noting when the material includes unannounced news.
How often does the team pitch for new business, and does that time count toward my hours?
Why ask it
Pitches for new clients usually arrive on top of client work, with late nights before the presentation. They are also where junior people get noticed by the partners. Ask how many there were last quarter and whether someone at your level presents or builds the slides.
Where does communications sit in the organization, and who does the head of the team report to?
Why ask it
This one is for in-house roles. A team that reports to the chief executive tends to hear news early and gets a say in it, while one that reports through marketing is often treated as a channel for campaigns. At an agency, turn it around and ask who the client contact answers to.
Crisis and hours
How much crisis or issues work does the team handle, and what part would I play in it?
Why ask it
Some teams deal with one a month and some go years without. Juniors usually monitor coverage, log reporter calls and draft holding statements while someone senior makes the decisions. If you would be answering reporters alone on a sensitive story in your first months, ask what training comes first.
Is there a written crisis plan for each client, and when was it last rehearsed?
Why ask it
A plan with names, phone numbers and a stated decision-maker saves the first hour. Without one, that hour goes on finding out who can approve a statement at night. A rehearsal within the past year suggests the document is more than a file on a shared drive.
Can you tell me about the last time something went wrong for a client, and how the first day went?
Why ask it
Times and people in the story show how it really runs: who was phoned, how fast a statement went out, whether anyone slept. Expect the client's name to be left out, and count that discretion in the firm's favor. Notice whether junior staff appear in the telling at all.
Who watches the news and social media outside working hours, and is there an on-call schedule?
Why ask it
A schedule with named turns and a handover is fair to everyone. 'We all keep an eye out' usually means the most conscientious person does it unpaid. Find out how often your turn would come and what you are meant to do with a midnight alert: act on it or wake someone.
How often do evenings and weekends come up in a normal month, crisis aside?
Why ask it
Launch events, embargoes timed for another time zone and clients who email late all add up. An honest interviewer gives you a number. Ask about the busiest stretch of the past year and how long it lasted, and follow up if all you hear is that it comes with the territory.
When someone works a weekend or a late event, how is that time paid or given back?
Why ask it
This depends on the employer and on the law where you work, so ask how it is handled here: overtime pay, time off in exchange, or nothing formal. Then ask whether people take the time back in practice. A policy nobody uses is worth the same as none.
Are people expected to answer client messages in the evening or while on vacation?
Why ask it
The healthy version is a stated norm: one number for real emergencies and named cover when someone is away. Try asking what happened the last time the interviewer took a week off. If they laugh, you have your answer.
How much travel, event work and time at client offices comes with the job?
Why ask it
Press trips, trade shows and launch nights mean early starts and nights away, which some people love and some cannot do. Ask how much notice is usual. Ask too whether you pay travel costs up front and how quickly expenses come back, since that differs from one employer to the next.
Growth and close
What is the usual path from this role to the next title, and how long has it taken people recently?
Why ask it
Titles and ladders vary from firm to firm, so ask for theirs and for what changes at the next rung in practice: your own client relationship, someone to manage, a budget. The names of two people who moved up lately are better evidence than a chart.
What training does the team offer in writing, pitching or handling the media, and who runs it?
Why ask it
Scheduled, named and recent is what you want to hear, even if it is only a senior colleague going through your pitches once a week. 'You learn on the job' can be true and fine, provided someone reviews the work. Ask whether courses or professional memberships are paid for, since that is the employer's choice.
Could I move between sectors or kinds of account as I grow, or do people stay in one specialty?
Why ask it
Variety teaches most in the early years, and later a specialty such as health, technology or public affairs is what gets people hired. Ask what happened to the last person who asked to switch. In-house, the equivalent is movement between media relations, internal communications and public affairs.
Where have people who left this team gone on to?
Why ask it
Client-side jobs, bigger agencies, their own shops: the list shows what this seat prepares you for. An interviewer who answers warmly has probably stayed in touch, which reflects well on how people leave. If most go within a year, ask what they would say the reason was.
What separates the people who do well here from the ones who struggle?
Why ask it
The answer reveals what is prized: fast clean copy, a nose for news, calm with clients, or stamina. If it is all availability, put it next to what you heard about evenings and weekends. Then say honestly which of those you are.
Is there anything in my background or my writing samples that gives you pause?
Why ask it
Hiring in PR often turns on the samples, so this lets you meet a doubt while you are still in the room. Have a second sample ready, or offer to draft a pitch for one of their accounts, and send it the same day.
What are the next steps, and is there a writing test or pitch exercise still to come?
Why ask it
Timed press releases and mock pitches are common at this stage. Ask how long the task should take and whether it uses a real client. If it looks like work that could go straight to a live account, it is reasonable to ask how it will be used.
How to use your questions in a PR interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you go in
Read their work first
Look up the agency's client list, or the company's newsroom, and read two or three recent pieces of coverage. A question built on something you read, such as 'I saw the piece on the store opening. How did that pitch come about?', gets a fuller answer than a general one. It also shows the habit the job requires: knowing what has been published before you pick up the phone.
Agency or in-house changes the list
At an agency, the groups that matter most are Accounts and Team and load: which clients, how many, and how the hours are counted. In-house there is one client, so swap those for where communications sits, who signs off and how close the team is to the people making decisions. Many of the notes say how to turn an agency question into an in-house one.
Know who is across the table
A recruiter or an HR contact can answer the questions on weekend pay, time off and next steps. The account director or head of communications is the one to ask about clients, measurement and crisis work. If you meet a future peer, ask about the ordinary week, the on-call schedule and the hardest account, then compare what you hear.
Pick the few that would change your answer
Question time at the end of an interview is short, and five is a realistic number. Start with whichever you could not accept the job without knowing, which for many PR candidates is the account list or the hours. Hold a second set back for the next round, when you may be talking to someone more senior.
While you are asking
Tie each question to one real occasion
The questions about crisis work, quiet months and weekends are easy to answer with a policy. Tie each one to an occasion: the last statement that went out after hours, the last report with little in it, the last weekend someone worked. An occasion comes with a date, a client and the people who were there, and you can ask what each of them did.
Use the trade's words, and ask when you do not know one
Retainer, over-servicing, earned and paid, holding statement, embargo: using these correctly shows you know the work. If the interviewer uses a term or an internal title you have not met, ask. Titles and ladders differ from firm to firm, and a candidate who asks comes across better than one who nods.
Give a reason before the questions about hours
Questions about evenings, weekends and billable targets can sound like reluctance to work. A sentence of framing fixes that: 'I expect busy stretches in this job and I am fine with them. I would like to understand what a normal month looks like.'
Bring one idea
If the conversation allows, offer a story angle for one of their clients and ask how they would improve it. It turns question time into a small sample of working together, and the way they respond to a junior person's idea tells you a good deal about the team.
What the answers tell you
Names and numbers beat adjectives
A named outlet, a number of accounts, an hours target and the date of the last promotion are things you can compare between employers. 'Fast-paced', 'top-tier' and 'like a family' are not. Where you get an adjective, ask once for the example behind it.
Discretion is a good sign
An interviewer who will not name the client in a crisis story, or who declines to gossip about a lost account, is showing you how your own work and your own mistakes would be talked about. Do not push for the name.
Listen to how they talk about reporters and clients
Contempt for journalists ('they never read anything') or for clients ('they have no idea') is a preview of the daily mood. Respect for both, with honest frustration about particular cases, is what a healthy team sounds like.
Compare the two versions
If the director says weekends are rare and the account executive mentions three in the past month, the executive's version is the one you would live. The difference is not always dishonesty, since senior people often do not see the hours. It is still the thing to raise before you accept.
Mistakes PR candidates make
Asking what their site already says
The client list, the sectors and the leadership team are usually public. Asking for them tells a PR employer you skipped the research the job is made of. Build on what you found instead.
Opening with the hours
The out-of-hours questions matter and belong in the conversation, but not first. Start with the accounts and the work, and come to evenings and on-call duties once the interviewer has seen that you want the job.
Asking only about the famous client
The well-known name on the roster may take a small share of the team's time, and new hires are often placed elsewhere. Ask where you would spend your own week.
Treating a writing test as a formality
In many PR processes the test weighs as much as the interview. Ask how long it should take, give it that time, and proofread it twice. An error in a sample press release answers the interviewer's main question for them.