As a student studying public relations, one of the first things taught is the importance of interning. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs for public relations specialists are growing at 7 percent annually. With a large number of students receiving degrees in communication, it’s now more paramount than ever to “get your foot in the door” and gain hands-on experience through internships.
What is an internship?
Internships are positions where individuals work in or for an organization, sometimes for college credits or without pay, in order to gain experience or satisfy requirements for job qualification. Interns are often portrayed in popular culture like fraternity pledges: running coffee orders, answering phones and printing material. However, one could argue that interns are a crucial factor in an organization, as they help keep the chaos at bay by keeping tasks orderly and lending a helping hand whenever needed.
Before interning, I knew only what had been taught to me in my introductory public relations courses. I knew that there would be a great deal of writing involved and that I would eventually have to be quick-witted in circumstances where tensions are high and deadlines are imminent.
In an academic setting, students learn the basics of PR: what it is, how it started, where it could be headed and how important it is. Students learn how to write introductory press releases, media kits and other crucial pieces of communication that help support clientele. They learn about public relations campaigns gone awry and cases that were handled with the utmost eloquence, such as the Tylenol crisis of 1982. Among all this information that academia provides, there is still something missing: experience. So, without further ado, I’ve compiled a list of the most prominent differences between learning about PR in school versus working in a professional setting.
Managing internal and external deadlines
Time-management is the name of the game. While in school, it is easy to block off time to dedicate to certain projects, and, let’s face it, procrastination tends to get the better of us all at times. However, working in the industry can be much more difficult when it comes to facing deadlines. If you miss a deadline for a school project, it’s a deduction to your grade, while missing a deadline for a client could cause a press release or product launch delay, which could then affect revenue and other business aspects. Client deadlines are crucial, which means procrastination is no longer an option. A good way to manage your time wisely is through the use of internal and external deadlines.
Internal deadlines are there to serve as motivators for execution and completion of projects. They are the goals and objectives that you give yourself surrounding project completion, usually 48 hours prior to the external deadline. External deadlines are shared between you and your team and work by using the power of peer pressure to hold everyone involved accountable. The completion of deadlines in a timely fashion is key, as they set a standard between you, your coworkers, and most importantly, the client.
While internal and team deadlines are vital, client deadlines are the most important. Our job in this business is to keep our clients happy and to try and convey the importance of PR and how it impacts their business, essentially proving why they should continue to practice PR.
Building an effective press list
Media relations are one of the most important pillars of PR. The relationship between media and public relations is symbiotic; we supply the media with stories that represent our clients and they are able to publish content that may gain traction with their audience. One of the ways we are able to reach the right media is through Cision.
Cision, otherwise known as the lifeline of every public relations professional, was never mentioned in school. Cision is a PR and earned media software company and services provider that helps aid in building press lists, retrieving contact information, and finding circulation and unique monthly visitors to key media outlets.
There is a plethora of functions and an ample amount of data on Cision, making this tool somewhat complex. This is where sleuthing comes in to play. Once we find reporters via Cision, we take a more in-depth approach and sleuth through each of their twitter feeds to understand the stories in which they are covering and gain a perspective on what they are most likely to accept from us.
These practices are valuable knowledge that every student studying PR needs to familiarize themselves with to be able to provide prompt, viable press lists. Check out our blog for more information on building a rock-solid press list.
The power of organization
I cannot say that school didn’t teach me a thing or two about organizational skills. Taking several public relations centered courses, along with extra-curricular activities, makes for a broad spectrum of work and deadlines. However, the level of organization that is used in a professional setting is incomparable. Before interning, I never organized my email in my inbox because I never had a range of different clients to categorize. And while an academic environment gives you some leeway to be free and organized at times, it is imperative that you stay organized while working for an agency.
A matter of time
Working in a PR organization, everyone must track his or her time. This way, the projects that we work on for clients are billed straight to the client and we are able to keep up with how many hours we completed for each client when the month is up. Since the environment in a PR firm is fast-paced and constantly moving, tracking time helps everyone keep up with the amount of work that is dedicated to each of our clients. By the time we have finished one project for a client, we have already started planning out the next ten steps towards a new project.
This kind of environment is something that one definitely has to learn to get used to. In an academic setting, the only time-tracking a student is pursuing are the hours or minutes until class is over. The pressure and workload stays at about the same pace until finals week. However, at the office, every week is finals week.
The importance of interning
It is important for students to intern to gain experience, and to figure out if he or she can see themselves working full time in that position. Think of it as a trial-run. You’re able to gain some insight into your strengths and weaknesses and can then tailor your course schedule to help build up those skills.
Had I not participated in an internship with Communiqué PR, I would not know how to properly formulate a pitch, create a working press list or briefing document, and so much more. Working here has helped me grow as a public relations professional and as a person. My internship was filled with excitement and provided an opportunity for me to constantly learn how to improve, and I will forever take this experience with me.
If you are interested in an internship opportunity with Communiqué PR, contact us at opportunities@communiquepr.com, or visit our careers page.
Tags: college students, internships, PR Firm, PR Internship Filed under: COMMUNIQUÉ PR, Jobs, Positioning, PR trends