PUBLIC RELATIONS PROFESSIONALS ARE image makers. They painstakingly craft the way the public views businesses, organizations, celebrities - anyone or anything of note. If people know about it, chances are the credit goes to a public relations professional working hard behind the scenes. PR specialists crave the spotlight for someone else. They mark success by seeing their client's name in lights. Publicists never hesitate to sing the praises about anyone or anything they represent. A PR pro cannot wait to get asked the question: So what's new? When you are in the public relations field, if there is one person who does not know about your client, you have work to do. Public relations is a hard-charging, nonstop, take-no-prisoners business, where you get the buzz going about your client and keep it going day after day. Your goal is to set the trends, not follow them. People who work in public relations shy away from nothing. Pushing the envelope is par for the course. You are encouraged to come up with innovative, over-the-top ways of getting the word out. The business thrives on fresh ideas, and cannot get enough of them. Each day presents a new opportunity to get your client's brand out to the public. If those opportunities don't present themselves, you make them happen. Creative excitement is always in the air, because groundbreaking ways of communicating with the public rule the day in this field. In public relations you take the mundane and make it exciting. You turn the ordinary into the exceptional. It's discovering those hidden gems that make the field so rewarding. People often ask, "What will they think of next?" Whatever it is, as a public relations professional, you are the one who will let folks know about it. A whole range of talents and skills are required to practice public relations, from crisp, imaginative writing to precise planning and superior organization. This is a job where you will be tested every day. If you like encountering the unexpected, you will definitely find it in this business, where coming up with inspired solutions to unforeseen events makes you a marquee player. In public relations, you will never be just another employee. Your insights and advice have a major impact on the company or organization you work for, or the clients you represent. You are a pivotal cog in the wheel, right in the middle of the action. When something goes awry, you are the one called in to fix it. When everything is going well, you are the one who gets the nod. When the time comes to take a bold step, you are the one everyone looks to for a new idea. There is no job better suited for this information age than one that has been relied on for decades to get the word out to the masses. Whether it is referred to as public information, media relations, public affairs, corporate communications, or, as it is more commonly known, public relations, this is a career that speaks for itself and many others.