By Maya Ebrahimnejad, Commonwealth Public Relations Summer Intern
A summer internship is not as long or boring as you may think if you find the right PR agency. In reality, it goes by in the blink of an eye and is totally worth your time! So, don’t stress this upcoming summer. Go ahead and start looking – I guarantee you will get more out of an internship than most of your college courses. Here are four things that often made up a “day in my life” while working as a PR intern at Commonwealth PR:
- Using Media Software: In order for PR firms to conduct research for their clients, they need to use software that has the information they need. I never knew this until now! In three short months, I have worked with four different media softwares that have helped me with my projects. These include Cision, TVEyes, Canva and CoverageBook, just to name a few. Ending this internship with a wide variety of media software under my belt not only gave me firsthand experience but built up my resume. I was fortunate enough to work with a PR firm that exposes their interns to hands-on work like this.
- Learning the Ins and Outs of Writing Releases: No matter where you go or what PR firm you intern for, almost all will have you write some kind of release. Releases can consist of topics like employee promotions or events. I can confidently say, I have written over 7 with Commonwealth PR and feel more experienced than I ever have! Not all internships will give you the opportunity to work on things like this, so make sure to find a firm that wants to see you grow from start to finish.
- Learning How to Contact Reporters: A lot of times our clients will have an overwhelming amount of news coverage going out about them. A public relations agency’s job is to get in contact with individual reporters that may be covering the story. Whether it’s involving crisis management issues or just needing to know more information for our client, we always contact the reporter. No matter what, knowing how to research and contact reporters is crucial in the PR industry – CPR definitely showed me the ins and outs of how to do just that!
- Developing Media Lists: A media list is exactly what it sounds like: It’s usually a document or spreadsheet that lists the key contacts that would be interested in stories about your client. These contacts could range from bloggers and influencers to editors and reporters. My job at Commonwealth PR was to selectively target the media market where our client wanted coverage and find contacts that best fit. Creating organized and updated lists helped my clients see the work that I was doing, whether the lists followed what they wanted and what coverage they may get in the future. With this internship coming to an end, I have learned that creating media lists and getting media coverage equals success for not only our clients but for us as well!
All in all, being part of this team for the summer was so eye opening. My internship not only gave me the opportunity to learn new skills and think creatively, but it also made me realize that this is the career path I want to take!
