Master's in Communication Management Careers

Communication Management Career Opportunities

MCM graduates have parlayed their degrees into key roles at various professional levels. Examples include:

Analyst

Job Description and Salary

Analysts in communication roles perform research that helps organizations better understand their consumers and employees. When focused on consumer research, analysts collect and interpret data about customer satisfaction and sales trends. They also examine consumer buying habits and preferences, making use of public opinion polls, focus groups and interviews. This allows them to uncover insights that improve sales and marketing strategies, as well as strengthen product development tactics. Some analysts focus on employee insights, gathering feedback and survey data to help company leaders make data-driven decisions regarding employee hiring, training and management. Analysts may design processes for collecting and conducting research, in addition to creating and delivering reports to stakeholders. According to the BLS, insight analysts earned a median annual salary of $65,810 in May 2020.

Administrator

Job Description and Salary

Communication administrators help implement and monitor an organization’s communication strategies — the communication tactics used to support an organization’s business objectives. Communication administrators create marketing materials, including press releases, newsletters and social media posts, and contribute to their organizations’ websites. They also track the success of communication campaigns and help plan promotional events, press conferences and meetings to improve the image and brand of an organization. The BLS reports that public relations specialists, whose job duties align closely with those of communication administrators, earned a median annual income of $62,810 in May 2020.

C-Suite Positions

Job Description and Salary

Top executives in communications may be referred to as chief communication officers, or they may have executive titles with the phrases public relations or internal and external communications attached. These organizational leaders communicate a company’s business strategy across many audiences, including investors, employees, the public and the media. This role involves handling corporate communications, internal communications and reputation management. It also entails consulting with and serving as a strategic adviser to other organizational leaders about transparent and consistent messaging. Overall, communication C-suite positions have the responsibility of making sure their departments leverage digital communications and other innovative forms of communication to advance their organizations’ performance. The BLS reports that top communication executives earned a median annual income of $185,950 in May 2020.

Supervisor/Manager

Job Description and Salary

Communication managers handle the internal and external communication of organizations. This involves organizing and overseeing the design and content of marketing materials and devising communication strategies that grow brand awareness and customer loyalty programs. It also involves preparing media activity reports and generating fresh ideas with marketing departments to promote a company's services and products. Communication managers often collaborate with writers, designers and marketers. They earned a median annual salary of about $66,000 as of June 2021, according to PayScale.

Vice President

Job Description and Salary

A vice president of communications develops an organization’s communication strategy and contributes to its strategic planning process. Communication professionals in these executive positions oversee the communication activities that build and promote an organization’s reputation. They also develop and implement various public relations activities geared toward advancing an organization’s strategy and positioning goals. Additionally, a vice president of communications is responsible for ensuring communication materials align with an organization’s placement and brand. This often involves designing rules and guidelines about messaging for organization employees. According to PayScale, as of May 2021, vice presidents of communications earned a median annual income of about $149,500.

Director

Job Description and Salary

As organizational leaders, communication directors manage outreach strategy and ensure unified and compelling messaging. They oversee the communications and public relations staff, making sure the internal and external materials produced speak to a company’s values and vision, both clearly and accurately. This involves reviewing and approving marketing materials such as press releases, as well as communications such as internal memos. Communication directors may advise top executives on effective strategies for communicating an organization’s brand, and they may also train employees on how to speak to the media. Additionally, communication directors often serve as the spokespeople for their organizations. Communication directors earned a median annual income of around $84,000 as of June 2021, according to PayScale.