First impressions: five insights from one month in my PR internship

As I am in my final year of university, I decided that I wanted to gain some experience within the world of PR, to learn new skills in a different area of work.

As an English Literature student, I wanted to find a role that would enable me to use my communication skills in written and visual content. During the job search, I came across an internship with Fair Communications that met all the requirements that I was looking for, and I am so thankful that I applied.

Though there has been a lot to learn, Vicky has been an excellent mentor in teaching and supporting me with the foundations as I navigate the new role. Having been an intern for a month now, here are the top five things that I have learnt so far!

1. Getting creative

Many tasks have required me to put my creative thinking hat on with visual and written content. As quite a naturally creative person, I have found this enjoyable as it has allowed me to use my skills to create content that matches the tone of the client, as well as ideas that are unique to the company.

At first, this is often achieved through testing and learning coming up with different ideas and options to pitch to the client, to clarify exactly what they are looking to achieve. It also involves a comparison with competitors, or ‘mood board’ style presentations, to create content that is exactly what the client is looking for going forward.

2. Writing and editing

This has been one of my favourite tasks of the internship so far and is crucial to my role. I have explored different types of writing and editing processes, through the creation of one-pagers, newsletters and copywriting, which I had never experienced before. When editing, I have learnt the importance of being thorough, checking not only for basic grammar mistakes but also being able to reduce large amounts of writing into smaller sentences.

Though it was initially a challenge for me, after some practice it has become second nature. This has helped me to become more direct in writing and editing and taught me new ways to express ideas, without the need for clunky sentences.

3. New platforms

In being introduced to new platforms such as CoverageBook I have become more confident and efficient in my work. For example, I have used CoverageBook to collate press releases for clients, to store them in one place, tracking their outreach.

Before this internship, I could never have imagined that this was the process in which press releases were maintained, and this has been interesting to learn and navigate. Using these platforms has enabled me a greater understanding of the foundations of key processes, such as press releases, which I can draw upon in the future.

4. Tailored social media 

Before accepting the role with Fair Communications, I was lucky enough to have gained some experience in social media. However, through this internship, I have learnt the importance of tailoring social media to different clients, to meet their desired outcomes.

So far, I have created various visual posts on Canva, to produce a ‘lookbook’ of different ideas for the client to consider.

I have also made a social media calendar for the client to allow them to visually see a content plan for the months ahead. This is important to track growth and audience engagement, to see the style of content that performs well across social media. I have enjoyed using my creative skills throughout this process, to work with the client to achieve content, and a plan that meets their requirements.

5. Researching

In this role so far, I have undertaken a lot of research both for clients about key publications. This has ranged from researching publications, podcasts and conferences for clients to participate in, as well as updating media lists for our records. It has even extended to more niche requirements, such as researching ‘thank you’ celebration biscuits!

I have been introduced to the media database platform Roxhill, where I have learnt how to search for and collate lists of journalists and media sources that could be useful for ourselves and clients in the future. This skill has allowed me to become more confident in my ability to research efficiently and to practice finding relevant outlets that are useful to draw upon in the future.  

This role has granted me so many new opportunities within PR, not just through the skills I have gained, but also through the training that I have received. It was challenging having to condense what I have learnt so far into just five points, as there have been so many exciting things to learn!

Going forward, I am excited to take these skills further to become more independent on projects. I am keen to become more involved with press releases so that I can learn more about the process and practice copywriting and editing.

Lastly, I would like to say a massive thank you to Fair Communications for having me, and I can’t wait to see what the next month has in store.

Millie O’Driscoll is a PR Intern at Fair Communications. For more information visit: faircommunications.co.uk