Hi Everyone,
As I began my internship at the well known PR firm PPR, I was quick to realise that there was much more to the real world of public relations then what we have been taught throughout our units within the degree. I believe there is a distinct difference between a consultancy and an in house public relations team, but my experience on the idea of public relations relates to a consultancy, which is where my internship took place.
As I began my internship at the well known PR firm PPR, I was quick to realise that there was much more to the real world of public relations then what we have been taught throughout our units within the degree. I believe there is a distinct difference between a consultancy and an in house public relations team, but my experience on the idea of public relations relates to a consultancy, which is where my internship took place.
I definitely wasn't ready when it came to the simple things that run a business, day in and day out. Things such as confidence in speaking to clients and people around you involved within a project, and phone and email etiquette definitely took time to get used to within the first week. Although it is a learning experience, nerves definitely take over and at times the idea of stuffing up a simple thing such as a phone call can really be daunting.
I noticed in my first week there really isn’t much for me to do, being new and coming into a new environment meant I had to adapt fast, but there really wasn’t much to adapt to, other than working 9 to 5 every day which was a new and very difficult aspect to get used to. The consultants that I work around kept mentioning how there isn’t much work going for the time being, and I was soon to realise that the downturn within the boom we just experienced has really taken its toll on all business aspects. Although I am partaking the internship in a popular PR firm, where they have a large client base, with large well known companies, my initiative and eagerness to learn didn’t get to shine within the first week due to there not being much work for me to assist with, and that brought me to question how I was going to survive the next four weeks, working full-time at a PR firm with not much to do at all. The eagerness, initiative and willingness also have a limit, which I noticed very quickly within my first day. It is just the first week though, so jumping to those sorts of conclusions may be an indication that I’m getting a bit too ahead of myself.
By the end of the week my nerves started to pass by, and I got the hang of the system the firm used. I’m ready and set to tackle the next few weeks, and am hopeful I can be included into a variety of different projects.
Ana Frankovic
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1 comment:
Hi Ana,
Reading through your first post really took me back to my first day at my internship in March. I felt so completely unprepared for my first day and was questioning whether my university degree has really best prepared me with the essential skills required within a professional environment. Those feelings were also coupled with excitement and eagerness to get hands on and gain some real life skills to build my knowledge and confidence. How my expectations compared to reality turned out to be completely difference as well! Im lucky as I am doing my internship is at a big, national scale company, so Im very busy on a daily basis and the day flies by, so I can understand how daunting it must be to not seem to have that much to do. All I can say is hang in there! My first two days were slow paced and I was just trying to find my place and role within the company, but it was all uphill from there. Im envious that you are working with such a known and established PR firm, as you will have access to so many people with a specific skill set and knowledge in PR, so you are bound to learn a lot!
I also know how daunting it is to use basic office skills and etiquette, talking to my internship boss, she mentioned how a lot of young people these days lack these basic skills and how much they can differentiate you to other young professionals. So just by developing those skills in your internship, you are going to be ahead of the game and that knowledge in itself will help you in the future! You know what they say - practice makes perfect - the more you do it, the more comfortable you will be. I was lucky to work in administration in my gap year so I gained some foundational knowledge then. After reading your post and thinking about how beneficial having these basic skills are, I would recommend to any first year student to try and gain some office experience to develop these skills!
Hope you enjoy your placement and hopefully the work picks up!
Good Luck!
Chloe
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