Five BU seniors speak about how they landed their first PR internships
As an internship panel began in the College of Communication earlier this week, one of the senior speakers was noticeably late. Sam Howe had a good excuse, though. He was traveling by train from the downtown offices of communications agency, FleishmanHillard, where he recently started working full-time.
Not too many students can say they started their careers before earning their degrees. Knowing he wanted to work in public relations, Howe took jobs wherever he could find them, including Schneider Associates and O’Neill and Associates. He began working at FleishmanHillard in January and by June, had accepted an offer to start as an assistant account executive while he finishes up school.
“It’s important to ladder up your experience,” Howe told students on October 1. “Go anywhere that will take you and have an eye on where you want to go next.”
Howe was one of five senior panelists speaking to the COM301: Principles and Practices of Public Relations class on Tuesday. He wasn’t the only success story on-hand. Scott Altman, Zoe Gillespie, Jason Feldman, and Stephanie Perry rounded out a panel that offered advice and told stories about their internships.
Perry, who worked with Glamour magazine while abroad in Spain this summer, said that being an intern isn’t always easy – the Spanish minor was asked to speak several languages out of her comfort zone, including French to a Paris Vogue office – but not shying away from tasks is an important part of the job.
“They’ll expect you to do everything. You’ll need to learn who to go to with what questions – and who not to go to,” said Perry.
“Even something as simple as copies – people don’t want to have to ask you twice and always make sure it’s done right the first time,” added Gillespie.
For Feldman, Perry and Gillespie, networking was key to finding their internships. Feldman reached out to his peers to learn more about internship opportunities in Boston, Perry knew a sorority sister who had worked at Glamour, and Gillespie utilized her friends and peers when pursuing an internship with Sony Pictures.
“You want to take every opportunity to get the most out of the experience, but you don’t want to overstep your boundaries,” Gillespie advised.
In addition to speaking on the panel, Gillespie, who works as a student teaching assistant for Assistant Professor Dustin Supa, also helped organize the event.
“Having Zoe as an undergrad TA was a huge benefit to arranging all this because she already knew many of her fellow panelists,” said Supa.
Supa brought up the idea of having a panel before the semester began, and Gillespie jumped at the chance to help.
“So many of my peers have had amazing experiences interning and I love having the opportunity to inspire and inform upcoming PR professionals on how to utilize internship opportunities,” said Gillespie. “I think it’s vital for every student to experience a few internships during college.”
Indeed, the panelists experienced their fair share of work experiences. Altman said that interning for the Boston Bruins last summer, as they made a Stanley Cup run, was a direct result of previously working for the Florida Panthers as well as knowing how to interview.
“You can prepare for an interview but the most important thing is to be yourself,” he added, “Don’t be someone you’re not.”
Feldman, who interns with marketing agency, Conover Tuttle Pace, said that interview questions can be pretty standard so it’s important to take the next step to make yourself stand out.
“Even writing a thank you letter is very important,” he said. “It’s the little extra things that can separate you from others. You’re surrounded by the best of the best in PR so you have to go that extra mile.”
Overall, Gillespie was extremely pleased with how the panel turned out.
“BU students can learn a lot from each other but don’t always know how to make that contact or who to talk to,” she said. “This intern panel provided a comfortable, organized, and informative way for students to ask other students for advice and questions.”
The experience also gave students a chance to network with the senior speakers.
“The power of who-you-know is huge and networking is important to a successful future in public relations. An interactive panel such as this is definitely something that every COM student should experience, no matter what their major is,” advised Gillespie.
This article originally appeared in the BU COMmunicator.