Internships…Mentoring the PR Pros of Tomorrow

By Brooklyn Lutz

It’s here. The end of the school year. The time when thousands of undergraduates flee their college towns to relax, spend time with friends and families and go back to working that menial day job they had last summer. NOT.

Times have changed. Sure some students may still choose to follow that pattern, but the majority of over overachieving students like myself choose to do something a bit more exciting and productive during the summer months – we get an internship.

Believe it or not, interns will soon be the next generation of public relations professionals, so offering internships at your place of business is the best way to mentor undergraduates and help them begin their careers. Not only will you be helping them, you will also be helping yourself. Yes, you heard me correctly. Interns can actually help your business succeed.

“How?” you ask? Well, let me explain.

Number One. Interns are eager.

As an intern myself, I can tell you that we are by far the most enthusiastic workers you will ever have. We want to learn from you and help you in any way we can. Our knowledge and skills may not be 100 percent up to your standards, but we want to enhance and improve them in every way possible. Give us a task and we’ll complete it to the best of our ability.

Two. Interns actually like constructive criticism. 

We know that we aren’t quite up to professional standards yet with our skills, so we’ll listen to anything and everything you have to say in order to improve. If you tell us that our writing is awful, we won’t go into the next room and sulk, we’ll ask you what parts aren’t the greatest and what we can do to make them better. We are here to learn and better ourselves in every possible way, so that in return, we can help your business continue to succeed.

Three. Interns are positive and fun.

When you hire an intern, you have essentially brought a little puppy into your office. An intern is constantly positive because they are enjoying every moment of their glimpse into the real world of the public relations industry. They will brighten the day of every employee when given the chance and can usually make a real good cup of coffee too! They also enjoy having fun now and then and can point you in the right direction for a great night out.

Four. Interns are creative.

After about eight months of school, interns are ready to trade in their books for a thinking cap and an opportunity to work in the real world. Our classes have given us all the knowledge we need and our brains are overflowing with great ideas. We simply need someone to share them with. Listening to these ideas may only take you a second and you just never know–one of our ideas may save you hours in the future.

And Five. Interns love networking. 

Interns know they will not be in school forever, and after graduation they’ll have to secure an actual job. Also, they know their best chance of landing a job lies in having a substantial professional network. This can definitely help your business. Have your interns interview their contacts for a weekly blog post, or invite them to lunch. Who knows… you may create a new lasting professional or social relationship with them.

Now of course these are only a few reasons why hiring interns is a good, strategic business move. So go ahead, implement an internship program at your company and start learning from them today.

Reach Brooklyn on Twitter at @BrooklynLutzPR