Starting a remote internship can be a daunting task for young, aspiring PR professionals especially given that things move at a much faster pace in the public relations industry. If you are a passionate PR-loving student interested in getting an agency internship, our former and current interns Taylor Duncan, Allie Martin, and Kanishka Punjabi wanted to share some quick agency survival hacks with you.
Be prepared for more responsibilities!
Usually, the expectations for interns are producing reports and conducting media monitoring. But APEX is a place where interns can take on more responsibilities than they could have imagined. Not only are you responsible for managing media coverage for clients, but you also come up with mailer content ideas, and sometimes even reach out to the media yourself. Take advantage of the great learning opportunities you have in front of you and make the most of them!
Stay organized to stay sane.
Agency life can be very fast-paced which means that you are navigating multiple tasks at once and things move at lightning speed. This is when your organization and time management skills come into play. Make a to-do list or do whatever would help you stay organized and keep track of your time. On top of that, you need to understand that having rigidity in your schedule can be an impediment to agency life. It’s important to keep your schedule extremely flexible because agency life doesn’t look the same every day and things change fast in the news cycle. Pivoting and adjusting your timelines matter.
Value your time!
We use a time entry system, like lawyers, to track how long it takes to complete tasks on behalf of the clients. Tracking your time and being accurate in recording times for the projects you work on are important as your time is valuable. Logging hours right away is key because it’s easy to forget exactly what you worked on for how long as time goes by. Recording hours isn’t just helpful for the agency and clients, but it’s also helpful for you to find out where and how much time you spend on each task. It will help you organize your tasks and times better and not spend too much time on a task that doesn’t take long to complete. It also helps the agency to figure out staffing and when we might need a new intern – which could be you!
Being insightful, creative, and personable pays off.
It may not seem useful at first, but little things like knowing the trends in news can be valuable in the agency world. For example, there was a time where media would only respond to coverage related to COVID-19 exclusively at the beginning of the pandemic, so finding out ways to creatively incorporate the pandemic in pitches was essential. In addition, finding a personal angle in connecting with people benefits you in the long run. The public relations industry is about fostering lasting relationships so figuring out unique ways to have conversations with someone can really go a long way.
Carve out time for yourself.
Carving out your own space is crucial! Your internship can be very time-consuming and draining in a remote setting with non-stop Zoom calls. Burning yourself out is easy if you don’t give yourself downtime. Be kind to yourself and relax. No one else is going to do that for you so know what your limits are and turn things off to take time to breathe. You deserve that break.
Bonus agency hacks!
Other than those five tips they shared above, Taylor, Allie, and Kanishka shared the niche hacks that helped them immensely in navigating their internship with us.
Taylor: If you are lost in finding or making any documents or reports, keep in mind that there are always templates you can find within the shared drive. Don’t recreate the wheel!
Allie: Bookmarking the Postmedia syndicate is a lifesaver for your media monitoring and reports.
Kanishka: Always save your passwords so you don’t have to scramble to find your login information for different websites.
Interested in an internship opportunity with us? Send us your resume at hr@apexpr.com