Hello everyone!
I have spent a great deal of pondering the nature of a first blog posting. Having never blogged before, I found the blank page/screen syndrome to be a bit daunting. Luckily for me, both professionally and material-wise, I landed an internship at Kohler Co. in Wisconsin. I started last week and have been really pleased with everyone’s willingness to accommodate a newbie such as myself. Within one week I have already:
Attended a photo shoot (I got to sit behind the wheel of a semi truck!)
Done my first media request
Drafted a press release
Written a few articles for internal newsletter publications
Learned about matte releases
Conducted interviews
I have logged quite a bit of desk-time in recent days and desk-time lends itself to pondering.
One thing that keeps echoing inside my mind from all of our PRSSA speakers is the recommendation from almost everyone that a good intern should be a “self-starter.” Excellent advice to be sure, but how does one be a self starter when all of your tasks are delegated from above? It is a difficult boundary to skirt: how do I keep myself busy without constantly bothering everyone for their tasks? How can I self-start, when my view of what needs to be done is limited? Any advice?
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Breaking the Ice - Intern Diaries
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10 comments:
Allison -
What a brave question to ask. I think that being sensitive to the fact that your boss is busy is a good thing.
On the other hand, a good leader makes time for his/her employees. It will take sometime to be a self-starter, but if you can show your boss that you are eager and that you can do the job well, overtime your boss will come to you with special assignments. Keep up the good work.
-Ryan
Does the company you are interning at know you are blogging about your experiences with them? If not, bad move.
Don't post any subjective statements about your thoughts on PR. People now know who you are and it's risky. And they will either like you or hate you- There's no in-between.
I had my own blog for four months and decided to get rid of it, because I couldn't get a job due to my blog's subjective content about PR.
This is my advice-- take it or leave it.
Allison went to her employer before starting to blog about her internship and asked for permission to blog.
Good point though.
Postive O - I think you should start seeing a psychiatrist. Your paranoia over a student's blog is extremely irrational.
I think this is a wonderful opportunity for students and young people interested in PR to get a first hand account of what it's really like to have a PR internship. As long as she's not posting naked pictures of herself on this website, I'm sure Allison will be a welcome addition to any professional PR team upon graduation.
Allison: Don't worry about what that freak said. Keep doing what you're doing - we're all waiting for your next post!
For the sake of professionalism lets try and avoid name calling. Allison you've done a great job up until now getting approval from your employer and thinking strategically before writing. As much as the blogging world can be rough and tumble and can also help your career if you are thoughtful and concise. You are on the right track and if we work together this will be a grand experiment.
Allison, it's good that you posed with a semi rather than Kohler's products. That's speaking as a Kohler, but not a Kohler associated with Kohler, Co.
Being a self-starter could involve coming up with new ways to do things. For example, maybe there more efficient ways to do things that you're aware of due to technology you're familiar with? Maybe there are opportunities to use new web sites (Facebook?) as PR tools?
Allison,
Ryan will be very helpful to you. He was helpful to me.
I wish you well.
It is absolutely correct that you should clear your blogging with your employer first if it is related to your professional life. That fact has been repeated on PR blogs and PR student advice columns--people have been fired over it. Just google "fired' and "blog". That said, a blog can be an excellent tool for showing your current and future employers your initiative, Internet saavy, and to showcase you knowledge and skills.
As for being a self-starter...to me it means that you go above and beyond the job description of your internship by taking initiative. For example, if you hear about something that's going on that you want to do but haven't been assigned--ask! It shows that you really want to learn everything that you can and you're willing to pehaps put in extra time to do it.
Good luck with your internship. Sounds like you have had an exciting first week!
Allison,
Being a self-starter is all about balance-- the difference between asking enough questions and asking too many questions.
I completed two PR internships before heading in to an associate account executive position, and I'm still learning that balance.
For now, I would run everything by your employer until you feel they know how you operate, your strengths and weaknesses. Then you will be able to take strong initiative with their added consent, and you won't even have to ask them to find out if it was good initiative. The best kind of internships challenge you and make you think on your feet. Enjoy every minute of it.
I am also doing a PR internship, although mine is based on campus and is a student-managed PR firm. It has been a daunting first few weeks, but I've learned to ask a lot of questions and take notice of what the "veterans" are doing. If you're unsure of what to do, ask someone if you can help with anything. Any experience is good experience, so take advantage of what's going on around you. Good luck!
Tehama Group Communications just started a blog, too. Check it out at: http://tehamagroupcommunications.prblogs.org/
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