The right internship to increase your employability in PR

I knew that graduating in 2009 was going to be difficult, and my best options were either to look at doing a master’s degree, or to find a good internship or graduate training programme. I favoured the first option at first because I couldn’t find an internship that interested me, but that changed when I heard about the Brunswick programme.

What appealed to me was the way in which the internship was structured.  Often when I hear of my peers participating  in internships they tend to be doing very basic office skills such as answering phones, making photocopies and delivering post. This was not the case with this particular internship. It was a huge learning experience working with communications experts which was the key in my opinion, to the success of the programme. Nearly every day I had access to people who knew the day to day life of PR executives.

We learned about the different roles that exist in PR, and how they differ depending on who you are communicating for and to. We spent a lot of time exploring the news, business and other media, how they work, and how journalists interact with PR people. And we did some practical stuff – how to contact journalists, how to write press releases and how to run PR campaigns. Over the ten weeks through activities, outings and weekly presentations (very competitive) we improved our general communication skills, office etiquette and overall employability.

Since completing the Brunswick internship I have been able to go on a month’s work experience with Brunswick Arts which combined my knowledge of the arts (I am a Performing Arts and Community Development Graduate) with the training I received on the programme. That was an awesome experience, which led to me being asked back in January to work on the London Art Fair, which was a great experience, especially as I got to actively take part, contacting journalists and participating in media monitoring sessions. After my internship with Brunswick Arts I was asked to join Brunswick’s sister company Cantos for three months, which has now been extended to six months, which is amazing and expanding my skills and knowledge of the wider communications industry even more. I am also doing some freelance PR for an independent musician which combines all of these skills.

I would sincerely encourage people to take part in this internship as the access to professionals such as Northern Lights and its diverse set of clients such as Business Link and construction/civil engineering company Clugston Group is a rarity, and in short, people who have gone into this internship have come out of it far more employable.