Why College Students Should Intern at a PR Agency
By Jacqueline Garcia | April 20, 2021
I think every PR student has heard either from a professor, advisor or even from our fellow classmates that it’s better to intern at a PR Agency rather than in-house at a company. Have you ever wondered why that is? Well I am here to tell you why they are right, although in-house has its great benefits, college students such as ourselves will benefit more from interning at a PR Agency.
Public Relations is a career with a wide range of doors you can open. You have the option of going into entertainment if you like film, TV or music, non-profit if you want to help, fashion if you’re obsessed with the latest trends and clothes, tech if you’re into computers, hospitality if you like to travel and love food etc… Getting an internship in a PR Agency will help you determine which area fulfills your needs and allows you to explore what you are most passionate about within the different areas.
Here are 4 benefits you will gain interning in a PR Agency:
Strengthen your multitasking skills- Employers love to see that you are able to handle a variety of tasks. Interning at an agency will allow you to juggle different clients at once all having different objectives and goals to meet. For example, you can be helping out a non-profit organization get the word out for their campaign that helps families feed their kids at no cost while also working on a different client who needs you to develop their social media calendar for the upcoming month and create graphics as well. Multitasking will give you better time management and also allow you to explore different areas to see where your strengths and weaknesses lie. Also, you can see what area you want to delve in more and what just isn’t for you. This type of experience will impress employers and benefit you in the long run.
Diversity- Interning at a PR Agency will allow you to explore the many different areas from non-profit to education, hospitality and entertainment. PR agencies work with a variety of clients, which helps you learn and opens doors for you to gain experience in the many different worlds in the PR industry. This will help you figure out which industry you would want to work for when you graduate college.
Gain a mentor and be surrounded by PR professionals- Interning at a PR agency or in the PR industry in general will get you a mentor which can be your supervisor or colleagues, you will be able to learn and gain insight by someone who’s been in the industry longer than you. Throughout your internship you are able to see how your supervisor communicates with their clients and get an overview on the different PR processes. They are there to help you and will help guide you through the experience. You get to learn how they formulate a pitch, how they interact via emails and zoom meetings with clients and the media. Luckily, this is where you are able to make mistakes and they will help you understand why you made them and how to prevent them in the future.
Apply classroom knowledge to the real world- We can read a book, take notes and study our butts off but nothing can compare to you actually applying those concepts to a real life professional setting. Interning at a PR agency will allow you to actually draft a pitch for a client, create a target media list based off their audience, practice writing press releases and build client relations. Everything you learned in a classroom setting you will be able to use it in the real world. You will be able to apply your hard skills while also gaining many soft skills within the industry.
I’m not going to lie, interning as a college student can be very stressful and tiring, especially when you have to study for exams and meet assignment deadlines. It’s a lot of hard work and juggling but it will be well worth it in the end when you can finally say you gained experience in different areas and tackle multiple tasks from different clients. The most rewarding of it all is being able to put experience on your resume for future employers to see once you graduate and apply for an entry level job.
Author’s Bio: My name is Jacqueline Garcia and I am a Senior at California State University, Northridge about to graduate with a bachelor's degree in Public Relations and minoring in Interactive Marketing. I am an active PRSSA member. My passion is being able to tell a good story through writing and building relationships with individuals from across various platforms. I like helping people and PR will allow me to be able to exercise this action, which I feel strongly about. In my spare time, I love to read fascinating books, go on hikes and be with my daughter. These little things go a long way for me and help me take a break from the real world. I am eager to learn and evolve in the PR industry and look forward to work for brands where I can put my skills to work, gain knowledge and experience.