By Miho Sakai, Associate Account Executive
My internship experience at The Hoffman Agency brought me a great learning opportunity and a better understanding about the PR industry, tech, communications and writing. But more importantly, and unexpectedly, I learned about myself.
I have always had broad interests, so deciding on an industry took a lot of consideration and courage.
What I did not expect from the internship period was to love being immersed the variety that tech PR offers. Tasks such as conducting research on coverage, competitors and new topics helped me to find what I was interested in and helped me realize that I never need to limit my interests based on the industry or my degree. If I had not let myself take this opportunity and experience working in the tech PR industry, I would never know all the possibilities that await me.
During the first few weeks, there were moments when I had to balance my expectations regarding the quality of my work while also understanding that I was on a learning curve. Everyone encouraged me to ask questions and realize how important that is. This sounds simple, but it is the best advice I received. Knowing it is okay to ask questions encouraged me to be more proactive.
Though I learned about storytelling throughout four years at college while pursuing a public relations degree, the internship dramatically impacted my perspective of storytelling. Storytelling implies the process of delivering the message and has a holistic approach to establishing the strategy — including all the PR effort from conducting research to reaching out to the right person. What I like about PR is that it is like a puzzle. To complete the story, the storyteller needs to be attentive and patient while also being logical and efficient.
This experience was meaningful and a huge milestone for my career, but what I appreciate the most was the thoughtful, creative and authentic people at Hoffman I got to work with! It was inspiring to learn about a company culture that is all about motivational learning and how everyone is passionate.
Tech PR is diverse, and each client might be in a different industry. It also tells you that the tech industry is a growing market where many types of technologies and industries exist. My internship at Hoffman has been an immersive experience rooted in professional relationships with clients. It has truly been a rare and exceptional experience for an intern.
My advice to others who are starting a PR career is to absorb everything as much as possible. Learning PR and the tech industry requires being open minded, especially when you receive feedback from the team. This will help you learn much faster and will make a difference in how you would proceed with your tasks moving forward. The learning and absorption of knowledge is endless; if you love this field, there is no better place than Hoffman to begin your professional journey.
