Federal Flacks: What Do They Do All Day?

When I met my future wife, she was, understandably, curious about my job as a congressional press secretary,  I, only somewhat jokingly, said i spent my time reading newspapers and talking on the phone.  Some 20 years later, I work for a Federal agency and spend much of time reading newspapers (albeit online) and chatting, via email.

But that's just a small part of what Federal flacks, and public relations professionals, actually do.

Most Federal flacks, whether they are called public affairs specialists or communications analysts, spend much of their time writing about their organization's activities. That's why a journalism background is good preparation for a job in public relations.

Typical writing assignments include press releases, background memos, web content, talking points, brochure copy and reports.   Lots and lots of reports.   Government agencies are required to submit weekly reports to their parent Department summarizing recent activities and planned events.   These reports, in turn are distilled by the heads of Cabinet-level departments and submitted to the White House.

Collecting the information required to write these reports, and for all documents prepared by Federal flacks, requires reporting skills. Former White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry described his job as "walking the halls and getting people to tell me things they don't want to talk about." Sounds a little bit like reporting, doesn't it?

If you are interested in a Federal flack job, look at the information released by government agencies and think about the steps required to produce the press release, web content, the speech or talking points. Don't forget the blogs, tweets and videos.   Now that you are getting an understanding of what Federal flacks do, it's time to start examining whether you have the required skills to get a government job. That will be the topic of my next post.

Thinking about making the jump? Send a draft accomplishment and we will analyze it for a future post.