Five Secrets about Working as a PR Intern No One Tells You
In just my first month of working as an intern for BCENE PR, I’ve had to adjust pretty quickly. I’m sure this is true for any profession - there’s a huge difference between what’s formally taught in a classroom setting and real-world application, period.
And with PR, the name of the game isn’t always as cut and dry as some other industries. Servicing a client takes a healthy amount of trial and error, brainstorming and patience that is not always present in the typical 9-5 job.
There are the necessary strategic communication skills at play and even more relationship building. Plus, you have to evolve with the times as the social media landscape and overall consumer markets change. Navigating such an active field can be pretty tricky!
To assist my fellow first-time PR professionals out there, here’s a list of five crucial lessons I’ve learned in my first month as a PR intern:
1. The Client Comes First!
No matter what, capable PR professionals understand the needs of their clients supersede everything else. It’s important to remember that these are the terms the firm and the client agreed upon during onboarding, and it’s ultimately what the client expects.
Maintaining your firm’s brand is important, of course, but what speaks louder is how well a client is serviced and represented in the media. And as an intern, proper time management and a clear prioritization of tasks are how you’ll best fulfill your role. Creating a schedule with specific times blocked out for certain tasks, for example, easily keeps me on track. Calculating how many hours I’ve designated to specific tasks at the end of the week provides the clearest glimpse into what I’m actually doing.
2. No Idea Is Too Wild
Things aren’t always as formulaic as they may seem, and often the best ideas aren’t the ones backed by tons of research and linear guides! Brainstorming as a team is highly encouraged and letting the wildest ideas flow can open up quite a few creative blocks. Some of the best pitches come from the most unconventional thoughts and can land even better with fun interactive text and images like gifs. Is there a trending sound populating TikTok and Instagram Reels right now? Think of how this could fit with your client’s brand! Why can’t material gworls wear Chanel 9 boots and trendy clip-on hand sanitizer, too?
After all, what types of headlines do we actually click on anyway? The run-of-the-mill or wacky, zany, clickbait?
3. It’s All About Patience
Servicing a client requires the PR professional to be as adaptable as possible, and patience quickly proves the ultimate virtue. It’s important to communicate to the client early on that instant results may be unlikely, and often the work we do may have a delayed gratification but ultimately a longer-lasting impact.
Setting up the right moves way in advance and hitting the media targets at sensible times is what ultimately leads to the most success. Remember, a large part of PR is relationship building, too!
4. Organization is Key
A disorganized home is a recipe for disaster and confusion. Maintaining function in your PR operations is a necessity for a never-ending list of reasons. On a personal level, utilizing tools like Asana for managing to-do lists has been immensely helpful for remaining conscious of the team’s overall monthly goals and where my own tasks fit.
Collaboratively, one of the biggest priorities is properly maintaining your firm’s media lists, which can expand pretty rapidly.
Life happens - contacts move around, emails get old, relationships change, etc. Staying on top of who you regularly reach out to can make or break how successful your agency is.
In addition, documenting agendas and verbal agreements in writing helps keep both your firm and your clients on track. Both parties have a clear understanding of expectations, and can easily reference what was agreed on during previous calls & meetings.
5. Always Keep Up With Cultural Trends
Public relations is uber trend-conscious! A PR pro can be best of service to their clients when they are knowledgeable about how consumers are responding to media.
No one’s saying you have to have been caught up on every episode of the latest Netflix show or on TikTok 5+ hours a day (psst..though a few of us might be!), but you should at least be aware of the who, what, when, where, and why.
