Hi everyone! I’m Abby Tecza, a junior majoring in public relations here at The University of Alabama. This past summer I completed an 11-week internship at Phil & Co., a boutique marketing and communications agency located in New York. I was one of three PR interns and learned so much.
Below you will find 10 things that I learned during my internship. For those of you who haven’t had an internship yet, I hope you find this helpful!
1.) Ask questions. You aren't going to know everything, and don't try to say you do. Ask questions to both your peers and mentors.
2.) Make drafts, take notes—lots of notes—and always ask someone to review your work before you hit send or publish.
3.) Make friends, not enemies! Yes, you want to stand out amongst the crowd, but you don't have to be super competitive or rude to your peers. Having friends in the office not only means fun lunch breaks, but it also means having people to support you.
4.) Ask if people outside of your department need any assistance. If you don't have any work to do in your department, go outside of your comfort zone, and learn something new!
5.) Keep an ongoing list of what you've been doing and what you've learned. Each day I made a list of everything I did and anything that I learned. This way I could update my résumé and LinkedIn accordingly. It also means that when I go to apply for my next internship or job, I'll be able to say exactly what I did during my previous internship and not stutter around or be vague.
6.) Don't be vague--always be super specific, even with your mistakes. You should always say exactly what you did wrong. You shouldn't try to cover it up. Just be honest because, while it's cliché, everyone makes mistakes!
7.) Update your professors. If they helped you land your internship, stay in contact with them. Whether they gave you a recommendation, connected you with the right people or looked over your résumé time and time again, they are going to want to know how you're doing!
8.) Nobody likes a grumpy intern, so be positive and smile!
9.) Be excited. Coming to work every day with the thought of getting a new project or attending an event should excite you. If not, you should reconsider what you want to do in the long term.
10.) Stay in touch with your bosses! You never know what connections to other companies they might have and it’s likely that you will need a recommendation from them.
-by Abby Tecza, General Member