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How Do I Become a Communication Lead?
A communication lead is typically the manager or supervisor of the department that is responsible for creating, implementing and overseeing all of the communication a company does internally and externally. To become a communication lead, you generally have to have an education in communication, journalism or marketing. You also need to have experience working in various aspects of marketing and communication.
The first step in landing a position as a communication lead is to gather the knowledge you need. Most companies require that you have a college degree in business, communication, journalism, marketing or a related field. If you do not have a college degree, you may first need to go back to school and earn a degree in one of these fields in order to become a communication lead.
In addition to the educational knowledge, most companies want to hire someone as a communication lead that has experience. Experience is generally two-fold. First, the company wants someone who has experience working in several roles of marketing and communications, such as a marketing associate, a copywriter and public relations professional.
Second, companies tend to want to put someone in a communication lead role that has experience supervising and managing others. In order to become a communication lead, you should work in roles that require you to manage other people and for these people to report to you on the progress of their work.
Once you have the educational foundation and experience you need to become a communication lead, then you have to identify the companies that require your skills and expertise. Many companies post communication and marketing positions on job boards and the company website. Review the websites of companies you have an interest in working for, along with job boards for open positions and opportunities in this field.
You may also send your resume and a letter of interest to a company even if it does not have a job posting. Some companies do not advertise their open positions or will create a position for a communication lead that illustrates the educational level and experience the company needs.
It can also be easier to become a communication lead by starting in a lower position with the company and working your way up. You may start out as a marketing associate in the communications department of a company. After working for a few years, you may have the opportunity to apply for a communication lead position or you may even receive an automatic promotion.
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![A degree in communication or journalism is generally required to become a communication lead.]()
By: gstockstudioA degree in communication or journalism is generally required to become a communication lead.
Discussion Comments
@allenJo - Regardless of the duties he takes on, in the final analysis the communications lead needs to know how to write well.
I think copywriters make great candidates for this position, because they are not simply regurgitating information, but they are trained in the art of selling.
A good communications lead needs to be able to write persuasive corporate copy, from what I can gather. In cases where they need to navigate a company through difficult waters, as you said, the art of persuasion can come in very handy.
@allenJo - You raise an excellent point. This is not simply a public speaking position. That’s why in my opinion people who become communications leaders can go on to full time management positions if that’s what they want to do.
To do that of course you need to demonstrate that you’ve got what it takes to become a better leader and know how to improve communication among employees.
At our company we recently completed an anonymous survey where we gave feedback about what it was like to work at the company, and where we thought things could be improved.
Do you want to know what the most common complaint was? It was that there was poor communication, and as a result, a lot of conflict among employees. Clearly, we needed someone who could help in that department.
To me a communication lead is not simply someone who can communicate a company’s positions effectively. He is someone who understands crisis management.
Sometimes a company can wind up in a public relations nightmare, only to see its name dragged through the mud, whether through its own fault or not.
I can understand how someone who has worked in public relations would be a good fit for this position. A public relations professional knows how to lead a company through a difficult situation, skillfully navigating the difficult waters with press releases, official statements and so forth, with a public that is eager to know everything that went wrong and why.
In my opinion the communications lead is not simply a great writer. He must be someone who can put out fires.
I have a friend with a job similar to communication lead, though I think his title is different. While you do need good communication abilities, from what I've heard from him the job itself is not exactly fun. He seems to spend a lot of time every day talking on the phone to various people in other cities. Not my idea of a really fun job, that's for sure.
@JaneAir - Those are good ideas. I can see why a company might have high standards when they hire someone for this position. The way a company communicates with their clients can have a huge effect on their professional reputation.
For example, awhile back I contacted a real estate agent about a property they were renting out. The agent was very rude in their email response. Also, their grammar was just awful. Based on that email, I decided not to work with them and to find another property to rent. So, the agent lost a client because of their poor communication skills!
I think starting in an entry level position and working your way up sounds like the best bet if you want to work as a communication lead. This is one of those jobs where you really need to have relevant experience, so I think working your way up the ladder could be a great way to get some experience and get this kind of job.
I also think taking some management classes or even getting an MBA could really help a person get hired to be a communication lead. After all, even if you have the necessary skills to get the task part of the job done, management skills are just as important.
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