After spending the summer of my Sophomore year blogging for College Candy and doing administrative and social media work for Admissionado after my Junior year, I knew it was time to step it up a notch this summer when it came to internships. Since I’m a Senior now (time really DOES fly in college), it’s more important than ever for me to figure out exactly what I want to do after graduation.
No more saying “I’m not sure” or waiting around, wasting time until something pops up. I decided to take the time to discover and explore exactly what I wanted my career path to be.
…And surprisingly, that path was NOT social media.
THE REVELATION
I juggled two jobs this summer: one unpaid internship at a small PR firm (which I’ll talk about/swoon over later) and a paid position as a Social Media Manager at a popular B&B on the Cape. When I heard I could make BIG money writing blog posts and updating Facebook, I obviously jumped on that opportunity, but after weeks of boring blog posts barely read by anyone, responding to angry Trip Advisor reviews, and having the innkeeper somehow blame me for the lack of room reservations, I knew it was time to leave.
I sent in a letter of resignation and vowed to never work solely in Social Media again.
THE DISCOVERY
I had the amazing opportunity to work at True North Brand Group: a small PR firm in Hingham, MA that works closely with both local and international companies to gain press coverage, do damage control, and to help a product build an audience. The first day I walked into the office, I couldn’t believe how happy and content everyone was. My professors, past co-workers, and graduated friends were always talking about how depressing and tough post-grad life is, but this job gave me a glimmer of hope. Maybe professional happiness IS possible… even for a lowly Communications major from a state school.
So what does a PR intern do? I’ll break it down real simple.
- Sending out trade show invitations
- Calling CEOs to follow up with invitations
- Drafting and publishing press releases
- Pitching products to both big and small publications
- Communicating with magazine editors
- Updating social media (minimally- this was NOT the biggest priority)
- Brainstorming ways to better appeal to our audience
I learned so much not only about the Public Relations industry, but also about myself and who I really want to be. It sounds cheesy, but as I drove away from the True North parking lot on my last day, I could hear KT Tunstall’s “Suddenly I See” playing in my head as if it was the end of an early 2000′s coming-of-age movie.
NO HARD FEELINGS, SOCIAL MEDIA
While I didn’t have the best experience with the Social Media industry this summer, that doesn’t mean I’m totally done with it! I’m actually stepping things UP with the blog this year, and I hope you’ll stick with is through the changes. We’ll introduce the rest of the team next week, so stay tuned!
