Comments on: A Parting Piece of Advice

By: Scott Hanson, APR, Fellow PRSA

Scott Hanson, APR, Fellow PRSA — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:34:31 +0000

Anne, in addition to running an outstanding PR agency, you could double as an HR consultant! Great info.

By: Denise

Denise — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:40:05 +0000

I wish I could put #1 on a t-shirt. It amazes me how many times I’ve sat down to brief an intern or 1st year to have them help out with a project, and they don’t bring a pen and paper (or, I guess, in today’s world, an iPad or tablet). If you find yourself in this situation, do yourself (and your boss) a favor and ask for an extra minute to find something to write on before the discussion gets started.

It doesn’t look as impressive as being prepared from the get-go, but taking notes to make sure you do the job right the first time will save you both time and frustration in the end.

By: Arik Hanson

Arik Hanson — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:33:08 +0000

Outstanding post, Anne. I hope your former interns read this and take it to heart. I especially love points 3 and 4. Finding your boss’s working rhythm is absolutely key to working successfully with them. And figuring out how to get assignments and work product that needs your review is huge. I think about the schedules many of my corporate managers have kept over the years, and determining strategies to get in front of them regularly was key. Great post!

By: David Landis

David Landis — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:33:50 +0000

Brilliant! From 1 cranky boss to another!

By: Blair

Blair — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:17:41 +0000

Definitely heed No. 2—this is something I wish I did more of at my first job. I remember feeling that asking “obvious” questions would make me look like a dummy. Frankly, it just created more work on my shoulders because I constantly had to do my own stealth research to figure out what everyone was doing and talking about. I’d also suggest taking it a step further to learn the in’s and out’s of all the foundational PR stuff that you might not learn in class.

Some enigmas I can recall from my first job include:

Task—Calculate the worth of this media impression in ad dollars.
In my mind—Don’t I need a degree in finance for this?

Task—Put this out on the wire.
In my mind—Who should I ask for a recommendation of a good local electrician?

Task—Draft key messaging to brand this new program.
In my mind—Branding? I’m sorry, but I’m a vegetarian.