Jack of All Trades, Master of None

How do you think a university student with 3 years’ worth of knowledge in public relations will feel on an internship at a PR/Communications firm? Confident? Quite the opposite.  

I am doing an internship with Blast Communications in Mauritius, a firm that has been existent and successful for 10 years now. It has a relatively young team, and handles the most clients of all the PR firms in the country. Their motto "Because your reputation is priceless", carries with it the familiarity of the ethical considerations one learns in classrooms; however it was the only familiar element. I came into this experience thinking I would only reinforce theories I have learnt in university. The truth is, as soon as I came in I was doing anything and everything which required assistance, whether I was comfortable with it or not. It is unnerving.  

I am a jack of all trades at the office, so to speak. In one week alone I've had to call journalists, lend my voice to a radio ad for one of our client companies, attend an event for an environmental cause to take pictures, and even translate texts from French to English. I may not master any real PR trade, but things must get done regardless. In lectures, they do not tell you that this is what you encounter and how to deal with it. However it is taught in our PR modules that a PR person has to be a well-rounded individual capable of fitting into any situation. I find that to be very true. Experience is proving to be more important than any theory I have learnt.

While some concepts come in handy (if you can remember them in the given situation) it does not necessarily prepare you for office work. One merely learns principles and key concepts, but no amount of essays and PR Briefs will actually prepare you for the working world. It is one thing to know how to execute a plan, and another to actually call people over and over again until you can reach them, send emails back and forth, and compromise when things don’t go as planned. Only then does the glitz and glamour of attending events kick in. 

This is going to be very a very useful experience. You evolve in every moment spent on the work, and your expectations change based on the reality of the working world. So far I would highly recommend undergraduates to seek some experience as well. It may inspire you to continue in your field of practice, or it might reveal what you are like in a professional setting and help you decide what you want to do after your studies.

I look forward to the following weeks to come.  

Sasha-Lee Marivel

Note: Blast Communications also has an official website.