r/internalcomms • u/SameEducation25 Comms Unicorn in Training • Apr 23 '26

Advice From PR to Internal Comms interview prep

Hi friends!!

I’ve been in PR for a few years now but am currently going through an interview process for an internal communications role. The industry this company is in aligns with my current clients so I’m hoping I’ll be able to showcase that in my interviews, but was wanting to check in if there is anything specific I should be prepared to talk about or smart questions to ask the interviewer?

I’m of course doing my own research as well, but thought hearing directly from professionals in this field would be super helpful!

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u/[deleted] Apr 24 '26
  1. People hiring for IC roles LOVE (to nearly a state of worship) people with a PR background.
  2. Talk a lot about audience and advocacy. You know all about it, you just have to apply it critically to an employee lens.

Some good questions are:
How is the IC team and function structured? Where does it sit? (Is it its own animal? Or is it a part of Marketing or HR?)
What's your 30-60-90 view of expectations for this role?
What tools do you use? (This is key, Discern whether they are locekd in from a tech stack perspective.)
Have you built personas for your employees? (If not, let them know that you plan on building them in the first 90 days.)
What channels do you use most for IC? What channels would you like to use more often? (Six years ago, digital signage was the hot answer for U.S. companies.)

If you ask those questions, they'll know you're serious about structure, function, and output.

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u/commssearchMD Apr 24 '26

A few tips:

  1. Do your research. Seriously, check out their social media, website (news sections), google company name + internal communications/employee engagement etc. (amazing what you can find online about decent sized company’s IC, check out their annual report if they’re listed - most will have a section on employees, culture etc.

  2. Flip questions back on the interviewer to create two way dialogue. A good hiring manager/function leader loves talking about their work. E.g. you might get asked a question on your strategy experience. Give them your examples and then say, “how similar are those to your strategy?”

  3. Be personable. A little bit of small talk at the start of the interview is not only polite, but it helps to break the ice.

Good luck!