What My First PR Internship Taught Me and the Lessons I’m Taking Back to School

What My First PR Internship Taught Me and the Lessons I’m Taking Back to School

by | Sep 19, 2024 | Agency Life, Public Relations, Social Media

“What do you want to do after college?” “Are you planning on interning?” “Will you get work experience during the summers?” These are daunting questions that many young people hear. Of course I want job experience, but how do you go from having no job experience to landing the gig of your dreams (without a mental breakdown along the way)?

I began to panic this spring as my peers secured impressive summer internships. I spent all of March and April researching agencies and cold emailing PR professionals. That’s when I found it — the holy grail — Amy Rosenberg’s LinkedIn profile. We went to nearby high schools, the same college and even were in neighboring sororities. I immediately opened Outlook and wrote to Amy, introducing myself and emphasizing our similar paths. She responded promptly and was extremely friendly. Weeks later, she offered me an internship at Veracity. 

Getting the Job

Securing this internship was a great relief, but it also taught me that you don’t always need others’ connections to succeed professionally. While I think it’s awesome when family or friends can help get you a job, it’s important to remember that you can still thrive without that convenience. I feel very lucky to have found someone with whom I share so many similarities and who took a chance on me. Sometimes, all it takes is a bit of bravery to make the connection yourself! 

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Calm Down!

When the internship started, a new challenge came about — I was incredibly tense, and it took me about half the summer to lighten up. Could you blame me? This was my first internship and I wanted to excel. The schedule was different, and the routine was unconventional compared to anything I was used to in high school or college; I had so much independence. It was also an adjustment because Veracity is remote, so I never met my two mentors, Amy and Cailyn, in person. 

My perpetual stress started causing issues when I couldn’t focus on anything, and I didn’t feel like myself. I was going through the motions without critically thinking about my tasks, almost like I was on auto-pilot for the day. Yes, it’s important to do what is expected of you, but staying authentic is equally crucial. I realized that when I allow myself to relax a bit more, I can do my job better, think more clearly and tap into my creativity. With my nerves in check, I noticed another challenge creeping in — perfectionism.

Beware of Perfectionism

As I settled into my routine, I realized I wasn’t using my time as efficiently as possible because I was constantly second-guessing myself. I would have saved time if I had finished an Instagram graphic after three revisions instead of 80 or written the press release in 30 minutes instead of three hours. I’m not saying that precision isn’t important, but when it crosses over into unproductive perfectionism, it can cause issues and waste time. Realizing that perfectionism was holding me back, I was eager to get my hands on the actual PR tools that would push me beyond my comfort zone and into real-world learning.

My PR Toolbox

One of the first things I did in my internship was work with Muck Rack, a PR software database that can be used to look up journalists and news outlets. Once I got access, I immediately felt so official because this was something you couldn’t get from a lecture or a classroom. 

Amy and Cailyn taught me how to create coverage reports, build media lists and write a press release. How cool is that!? These real PR experiences, paired with reading chapters from Amy’s A Modern Guide to Public Relations, were monumental during my internship. They gave me a foundation of PR that I will fall back on in the future. I ended up working on a pretty substantial media list for a big conference in October, and even wrote parts of the corresponding press release. It’s a bizarre feeling when you get included in a project or task that feels so professional and out of normal reach, but a thrill unlike anything I’ve experienced.

Research Research Research

While media lists and press releases taught me PR fundamentals, I quickly learned that none of it would be possible without extensive research. Understanding our clients and their audiences is the backbone of everything we do, making research a skill I’ve been refining. This critical thinking involved questions like: Where is the client located? How old is their audience? What local events do their audiences attend? What podcasts could this client guest star on? And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Because of this, I acquainted myself with Google and relied on spreadsheets to organize information. 

I found myself online more during this job than ever before. I also felt very “in the loop” with local and national news because of how frequently I checked up on those outlets. To nobody’s surprise, this experience made me better at reading the news, something I now will intentionally build into my routine.

Creativity in PR

The internet wasn’t just a place to research during my internship, it also became a platform to showcase my creativity. I created social media graphics that challenged my graphic design skills by experimenting with different colors and layouts. I also developed my writing style, finding the right balance between being professional and letting my personal voice shine through. Plus, I got to practice incorporating emojis and hashtags into social media captions to effectively convey my messages. 

I deeply appreciate Amy and Cailyn allowing me to express my personality through my work this summer. These projects were challenging at times, but seeing them come to fruition was incredibly rewarding. Through this, I’ve come to appreciate how PR is such a thoughtful field, where hard work and creativity truly pay off.

Just the Beginning

As long as nine weeks sounds, this summer went by in the blink of an eye. I now understand how the job works and what the workload of a PR pro looks like. Veracity gave me a glimpse into the world of PR, and I am thrilled to take what I’ve learned back to school. I’m even more excited about my PR courses because I will now have context. If we study domain authority in class, I now know that it means how likely a website is to appear in search engine results or if we have to create a press release, my AP style writing has improved. 

PR, social media and digital marketing are VAST. As I step into the next chapter, I’m more motivated than ever to continue exploring, challenging myself and finding joy in the unexpected moments. This is just the beginning, and I can’t wait to see where the journey leads!

A Year Full of Lessons for an Entry-Level PR Pro

A Year Full of Lessons for an Entry-Level PR Pro

by | Dec 21, 2022 | Digital PR, Posts, Public Relations

Once you graduate, there is this window of time where you feel clueless about your next steps, but once you find your footing, everything starts to make sense. Around this time, a year ago, I was applying for jobs and came across Veracity on LinkedIn. Thus beginning a new chapter of professional growth. Fast forward a year and a promotion later, I’m still here and have learned plenty of lessons that can shine some light for those entering the workforce. 

 

Find Great Leaders

As a relatively new person to the professional business world, I had a bit of imposter syndrome while getting acclimated to my new role. No longer was I trying to explain what I could do. I was tasked with actually doing it, which scared me, yet with patience from my boss, Amy, and an open communication system, I soon overcame this fear to begin embracing my passion for PR. That brings me to my first lesson, when you have the luxury of choosing, try and seek out leaders that know your worth and are willing to help you grow.

With toxic work environment trends surfacing, I thanked the stars for my situation. I don’t say this to brag but to bring awareness that outstanding leadership will treat you and your boundaries respectfully while encouraging diversity of thought and professional development. Yes, I got lucky, but it shouldn’t be the exception. A positive work environment should be the rule. 

 

Follow Your Instincts

Even after Amy reassured me that I was on the right path, my initial feeling of imposter syndrome was not entirely gone, which actually might be just fine. This brings me to my next lesson, don’t try to fake it if you don’t know it. Instead, ask questions. You are new, you may know bits and pieces, but in the end, it is better to ask than to guess. In addition to this lesson, Amy has hammered into my brain to follow my instincts and take control of a situation, especially in PR work. If I think I know what I’m doing, chances are I do. Getting over my work insecurities has taken time, primarily when communicating with the client.

Confident communication with clients makes them trust your work. Being the newest person on our team made me timid to approach clients with thoughts and ideas. I was scared to sound clueless, but my boss helped me realize that my views were fantastic. I just needed to learn how to execute them properly, leading to many lessons about confidence in delivery that will continue to develop with time, experience and practice. 

 

Take Time With Your Responses

While working entirely online, email tends to flood quickly, which washes into my next lesson and probably the funniest one. YOU WILL NOT RESPOND RIGHT AWAY TO EVERY EMAIL! I remember telling my boss at the beginning that I like to respond to emails ASAP so I don’t have to worry about them. Well, Cailyn, maybe that worked when you were getting simple emails that didn’t require a lot of brainwork, but now you might need to take a reasonable amount of time to respond to an email. 

Amy says that sometimes a meaningful response is much better than a quick one, which doesn’t just apply to email. You can sit back and think about your reply if it isn’t urgent. The idea that you don’t need to have answers right away all the time was challenging to grasp since I was trying to prove myself, but now that I understand why, I feel less overwhelmed.

 

Practice the Art of Writing 

I’ve learned a lot, however, I am still learning, especially in my writing. The first time our editor tore apart my blog, it hurt. That was probably my biggest lesson. I realized that I wasn’t as good at writing as I initially thought, which was fine because Amy was willing to work with me on my writing skills. Below are just a few tips I got from both my boss and editor:

  • Don’t ask rhetorical questions in pitches
  • Read the way you want to write
  • Remember to blatantly say what you want from the reader
  • Each word is a dollar so save money
  • Don’t begin each paragraph with the same word
  • Putting “new” in the subject line is newsworthy
  • When writing, just feel it, don’t stop yourself

I could pull a million tips, but these are what I think about often. Additionally, to their helpful tips I refer to one of my biggest PR helpers constantly — A Modern Guide to Public Relations. My first training task was to read it, and I think anyone getting their start in PR could benefit from the knowledge Amy shares in her book, along with listening to the PR Talk podcast. 

 

A Final Lesson

Observing the flow of PR work resulted in many ah-ha moments. Although I had some experience before my position, I was only seeing part of the picture without understanding the how and why. After helping create and execute campaigns, write blogs, brainstorm social content and develop media relationships, I am now able to see the big picture, which makes my job much more fulfilling.

My last lesson for anyone in PR or applying for entry-level positions is to take the leap and not be scared. I hope my lessons can help someone going into an entry-level job since it can be nerve-racking, and we can feel like we don’t know what we’re doing, but that’s the point. You shouldn’t know everything. You should ask questions, be quiet, and listen because we’re all learning.

Featured Images courtesy of Canva