All Good Things Come to an End - What I Learnt

Hello again all,

Well I've just finished up my last week at The Communications Store and it has been quite a learning experience. I thought I'd reflect on what I learnt and also my thoughts and feelings on the industry.

I feel as though there are so many minor details I have learnt which are hard to dig out of my memory right now, but were just so important. Little things about how to present yourself, how to talk to your co-workers, and how to talk with the press. I suppose I'll just have to focus on my most 'stand out' learning experiences.

First of all, I feel as though PR is all about dealing with people effectively. If you can do that, you're half way to success. Many of the executives in my team, particularly my supervisor, spent so much of their working hours on the phone building relationships. Once I was putting together a mail out - virtually just putting together bags of clients' products to send out to journalists - and my very busy supervisor took the time out of her day to go over all of them. She was making sure the products were relevant to the journalists' tastes and publications, and was including personalised notes for many of the journalists who demanded a more personal relationship with her.

This is only one example of the importance of dealing with people; I saw this every day. I love this aspect of PR because it's so nice to be social in your workplace, and I much prefer the idea of working with people in tandem with computers.

I learnt about the importance of what I would call 'house style'. I was always tempted to be super creative whenever I got the chance to do something exciting in my internship, but it was a priority that I held up the agency's image and reputation if I wanted to succeed. Every time I was given the opportunity to write something, or put a presentation together, it had to follow a previous example which was provided for me.

I suppose this aspect is a little disappointing; I thought that public relations would be an incredibly creative job. However, maybe the creative side will come into play later in my career - for now I'm at the bottom of the food chain!

I've also learnt a lot about myself and my career. I was so hesitant to step into the PR field, I suppose because I am a creature of habit by nature, and it was an intimidating thought. However I now wish I had started months ago, I loved office life for the month I had it. I always knew what hours to expect from my week, I always had weekends off, get to enjoy bank holidays, and in future when I'm not just an intern I will earn so much more than I ever have before. On top of this I get to spend my working hours using my brain, being creative and developing relationships with co-workers and the press. Why did I stay in hospitality for so long again?!

I wish so much that I could have stayed on at The Communications Store but it always had to end. The team are all adamant about me staying in touch with them, so who knows, maybe one day soon they will need me back!

I hope you all had positive experiences in your internships, and if you didn't, maybe try again somewhere else.

That will be all from me! Can't believe I'm graduating soon!! :D

Jessie x