Well, that flew by! Three months ago, when I started my internship at Hoffman, it never occurred to me how it would end or what would be waiting on the other side. I was so focused on making the internship worth it that I never really looked up, taking it day by day and trusting that things would naturally run their course.
Now, here I am at the end of the road, miles ahead of where I was, and I can honestly say that I learned more during this brief period than four years of college ever could have taught me.
One thing was made abundantly clear to me on day one: PR is not at all what I thought it was.
That may sound like hyperbole, but the crisis communications, event, and campaign planning I did in school didn’t really carry over to the agency. Instead, I crafted pitches and built media lists, made briefing docs, arranged interviews, sorted a million emails, and communicated daily with my teams and clients on what stories we wanted to tell.
The closest thing I can equate my PR experience to thus far is working in a group project — several of them. I began as “the new guy” in the group, and was not really sure how I would fit in or what I could contribute. After all, I’m brand new to this. Some people in my teams have been doing this for years. What on earth can I possibly bring to the table?
I found out very quickly that I was looking at it from the wrong angle. It’s true that experience carries weight, and I certainly have a long way to go until I accrue the skills and knowledge of some of my more seasoned counterparts. But every day in PR is different, and a fresh set of eyes can make all the difference. By week three, I was pitching story angles, building narratives, and playing my part in the well-oiled, story-telling machine that is The Hoffman Agency.
The hardest part in this entire process was finding the confidence to try and inevitably, make mistakes.
PR people are naturally people pleasers, which directly parallels my personality. Everyone wants to get things right the first time and be a reliable resource for our higher ups, but I’ve learned that this comes with practice.
As a very wise hockey player once said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” and we take a lot of shots in PR.
Through extensive coaching from my manager and teammates, I am now at a place where I can come to work free of all anxiety and self-doubt. I could not be more excited to embrace my role as an Associate Account Executive and continue to grow and develop at The Hoffman Agency in our Portland office!
