I cringe when people over-use cliché’s, but there’s really no other way to reflect upon the past year without thinking of the phrase “time flies.” Nonetheless, I can deem this as an appropriate description of my transition from wide-eyed undergraduate to public relations professional.
I remember going through the motions of college, checking off class after class until I finally reached my fate – graduation. The “real world” loomed ahead and there was no turning back. Apprehension to know where I would be in just a few short months was driving me crazy.
My time and energy that I dedicated to the job hunt paid off when I received an offer from Breakaway Communications to begin an internship last June and accept a full-time job offer – as an Account Coordinator - in September. Though I hadn’t had much experience with technology aside from my day-to-day interaction with my iPod or laptop, I was more than thrilled to learn the ins and outs of high-tech agency life.
I can still feel my stomach tighten remembering the first day as an intern here at Breakaway. I could only hope that my experience in Tehama Group, the student-run public relations agency at California State University, Chico, would be enough to keep me afloat in the big city of San Francisco (forgive my small-town background; the 7x7 city baffled me at the time).
Now that I’ve been with Breakaway for almost a year, there are a few key points for my fellow Millennials out there looking for some experience fresh off the college campus. Therefore, here are my top five tips to succeed in a public relations internship:
1. Develop a system to organize your work: Like in college, there are the procrastinators and the go-getters in the working world. Find out where you fit in (hopefully somewhere in the latter category) and how to organize your own “system.” There will be tons of things flying at you fast, and if you don’t have a method of how to keep them all prioritized, you may find yourself a bit flustered.
2. Read: Especially if you are thrown into a foreign world of technology jargon or something of the sort, reading is brightest light at the end of the dark tunnel of confusion. Read blogs, news, look for new Web sites that you can bookmark and check on a daily basis. Just knowing what’s going on in your field can help tremendously.
3. Take the needs of each account into consideration: Try to listen and learn from your colleagues and your clients. Every account has different needs and expectations, so make sure to be aware of how to best accommodate them.
4. Find out where you stand: Establishing your account role or role within your working environment will make things clear and help everything to flow easily. If you know what you are personally responsible for doing, there will be less overlap of tasks, resulting in a more cohesive working manner for all.
5. Get to know your colleagues: When you think about the amount of time you spend during the week in the office, it’s undoubtedly true that your coworkers will soon adapt into an extended family of sorts. So make sure that you are happy with the office culture and who you interact with.
Things change from day-to-day, so the best thing that you can really do is to be as prepared and well-versed as possible. Life in public relations can be exciting as well as challenging, so take what you can from the experiences you encounter and embrace the opportunities available to you. Best of luck on the hunt!
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