A guest post from our fantastic intern, Kara.
I recently interned at Kite Hill PR in order to expand my knowledge of my Public Relations major, and gain hands-on experience within the industry. This internship provided me with a real-world knowledge about how to successfully work in public relations. Internships have so much to offer – I gained more than experience to put on my resume, and benefited from direct guidance on different projects and constant feedback to improve my performance.
One of the first things I learned about is the importance of media research. I have learned to compose an accurate and useful reports, which required me to research news outlets – discovering many that were new to me. I also learned how to comprise a media list of contacts – going beyond topline research to find the appropriate audience that would be interested in this service and benefit a client. I learned how to complete these kinds of tasks efficiently, and later got to see the direct results of my assistance and the positive results that arose from my detailed research. I also learned about monitoring for client media coverage. This taught me to always search for underlying opportunities as opposed to solely searching for general ideas or key topics and showed me first-hand how vital it is to be a critical thinker.
This internship has benefited me as a PR student, future PR worker, and young adult in general. In addition to learning many skills that I will need in my professional future, I was able to see the way a company operates and personally witness the many parts that goes into running a genuine and hardworking business. I have learned things that are not capable of being taught in a classroom, and have benefitted from working around deadlines and receiving feedback on my work that has helped me improve in many areas.
PR internships can open the door to an array of opportunities. I am beyond pleased with my experience this past summer, and am eager to see how my PR future plays out as I begin to apply my newfound knowledge and experiences!