7 Reasons to Intern at a Smaller PR Firm (like CGPR)
By Connor Voss, CGPR Summer 2016 Intern
When you’re getting your feet wet in public relations, all experience is good experience. Although, as a veteran intern of various-sized firms, I’ll be the first to say that smaller firms can offer big-time experience. And here’s why:
- You get to do everything, including projects that would typically go to full-time staffers.
From writing press releases to pitching media to drafting client newsletters to assisting on-site with client events, nothing is off limits. Your to-do list will include much more than the standard PR intern duties of doing research and making media lists—that’s for sure.
- You get to see senior staffers in their PR mojo.
The odds are good that a senior team member could be at the desk next to yours. Just observing an experienced PR pro doing their job day in, day out is a powerful learning experience that you may not be privy to if she had a corner office on the power floor.
- The firm feels like a team.
There’s something to be said for knowing everyone in the firm. When you get to know your team beyond the coffee pot small talk, you find out who’s the pitching guru and who’s the go-to wordsmith—and start playing to staffers’ strengths to put out the best work possible.
And at CGPR, there’s something to be said for knowing that the team truly cares about one another—and that you can count on their support and encouragement, too.
- You can ask team members for advice without getting time on their calendar.
Have a question? Just pop over to their cube and ask. Or, in an open office like CGPR, just yell over to their desk.
- If you’re the only intern, you get all the attention.
Hello, A+ mentorship.
- You can learn directly from the owner of the firm.
At smaller firms, the firm’s owner, president or CEO is often just as hands-on as any other member of the team, which allows all staffers to learn from the best.
- The team will throw you a surprise goodbye lunch with a giant jar of Hershey’s Kisses, a balloon and a sweet card — oh wait, that’s just at Common Ground Public Relations.