I read a great blog post in PR Daily today by Dorothy Crenshaw titled 6 Reasons Why PR is so Stressful. She wrote the post after seeing a survey by CareerCast naming PR the fifth most stressful occupation of the year. I agree with Dorothy and her list of things that can cause stress for PR pros, but regardless, I find myself repeating the words I often share around the office:
“C’mon people! We are not saving lives here!”
How on earth is PR the fifth most stressful profession? Admittedly, there are days and projects and deadlines — and sometimes even people — that have caused me a fair amount of stress. But that comes with any job. In all honesty, I love my job and what I do. I think that explains why I’ve been it for so long. In fact, I’ve always felt that I’m lucky to have a “low-stress” job. PR is a sociable job, a creative job, and, on many, many occasions it is incredibly FUN!
So I have to flat out disagree with the folks at CareerCast. There is no way PR is more stressful than say, an air traffic controller, a police officer, an ER doctor or nurse, a middle school teacher or a trader on the New York Stock Exchange (those people look like they are going to literally explode from stress)! How about CIA agent, oncologist, parole officer, hospice caregiver, pyro-technician, priest, rabbi, minister…the list of truly stressful jobs is LONG!
Maybe I’ve been living in the wrong world of PR for 20 years? Do you think it should be No. 5 or could it be they left off a zero…or two?
