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If you are a recent or upcoming graduate, you know that the stress of trying to find a PR internship in the midst of a global pandemic can become overwhelming. In a rapidly changing world post-Covid, it becomes increasingly important to adapt with the times and hone your skills through remote internships, especially if you want to land a job at a PR firm after graduation.
If you want to rise above the competition, here are five skills PR students and recent graduates should have in order to find remote PR internships, nail the interview, and prepare for a remote role.
“Your network is your net-worth”- Porter Gale
It’s difficult enough to research online and discover what internship is best for you given where you live, the kinds of local companies hiring, and the job requirements of each internship role. One of the proven ways to uncover a potential internship opportunity is through connections.
Networking, whether you make connections through job fairs or reach out to your professors, is a smart way to connect with and get to know PR professionals. Making connections is a great way to build relationships and enhance further opportunities during college and beyond. Networking helps you discover engaging internships and get a foot in the door of possible future employers. Most importantly, networking can be one of the best ways to initially obtain an interview for a remote PR internship.
Once you have discovered a remote PR internship you would like to apply for, it’s crucial to understand as much as possible about the company before the interview. Researching what you can about the company, which can include the company’s website as well as its LinkedIn profile, will not only show your drive and determination, but it will also help you uncover good questions to ask during the actual interview. This includes thoroughly researching facts about your prospective employer, such as their services or recent client work, as well as familiarizing yourself with the current terms used in a PR firm. Knowledge about your target employer will show that you are a go-getter. It will also help you rise above the competition and increase your chances of landing an internship at a PR firm of choice.
Even with in-person jobs and internships opening back up as the pandemic winds down, it’s still important to stay prepared for online meetings over Zoom. In any kind of job interview, including ones through Zoom, it’s vital to make a good first impression. This means you should do everything necessary to prepare for the video call , including creating questions you want to ask them beforehand, testing the audio, creating a distraction free background, dressing the part, and preparing your talking points. For more tips about how to best prepare for a Zoom interview, check out our earlier blog post: How to Prepare for a remote Zoom media interview.
Once you have nailed the interview, it’s time to fully prepare for a remote PR internship. One of the most crucial aspects of working remotely is to schedule your time wisely and create a good routine. Perhaps the hardest part of maintaining a remote internship is time accountability while working from home. The best way to succeed in this area is to schedule your time beforehand by creating consistent start and end times and preparing manageable task lists to accomplish each day. This will help you make the most out of your internship and ensure that success is just around the corner.
Comparison to others is often described as the thief of joy. In the tech PR field, everyone has different strengths and weaknesses; therefore, it’s helpful to hone your own skills. While you should never get stuck in a negative feedback loop by constantly comparing your strengths and weaknesses with those of others, it is equally key to continue to push yourself in order to learn, improve and stand out. The best way to develop your own skills in the PR world is to compete with yourself. This will give you the motivation to not only do what is required for the internship but also go above and beyond in your first real-world PR role, which will help you become a more valuable contributor to the team and a more desirable candidate for future jobs.
About Lara Tanner: Lara is an Intern for Swyft, which is a tech PR firm in Austin and Houston and a top digital marketing and PR agency in Denver since its founding in 2011. Swyft recently opened a satellite office where it offers tech PR in San Francisco. Swyft was also listed as one of the top tech PR agencies in Texas by the B2B services review site, Clutch.co.
