As a start up, bringing an intern into the mix is an exciting time where a team of 1 becomes a team of 1.25. It also means I will have someone to listen to my enthusiastic passionate ramblings about how much I love spending my days up to my elbows in PR and Social Media. And the best thing is, they actually want to hear it … although do correct me if I’m wrong *I can sense interns rolling their eyes everywhere*!
Ok, so I admit and I hope others will own up too: having someone else on your side for the first time is good for the start up soul and, dare I say, the Freudian ego where you hope they will share the highs and lows in the two days a week they’re with you.
Whatever your motivation, for me, bringing an intern into the mix means I have someone keen to learn and help out with activities I once did as an intern. And also get involved with some of the stuff I never got to do an an intern. It also means I have another perspective in the mix and that is never a bad thing.
On the flip side, I will make sure my intern gets as much value from their experience as possible and to use me as a resource. An internship at BRAND PR SOCIAL needs to be of mutual value.
What we’re looking for
Believe it or not, I wasn’t looking for someone with a definite focus to work in PR as I would expect that interns are looking for such a placement to discover what they want to do. Of course I would hope they loved it and would stay with BRAND PR SOCIAL through the years but realistically, if a school leaver thinks they know they want to work in PR, it’s likely they don’t really know what’s involved or what else is out there.
Obviously a keen interest in PR and Social Media is a good place to start but the winning factors for choosing an intern for BRAND PR SOCIAL were pretty simple and few and came down to personal qualities:
- Positive attitude and enthusiasm … but not ‘too keen’
- Willingness to learn
- The right cultural fit for an office full of music, noise, some cussing and occasionally dogs
The last factor is a vital one. I sit in a office with the team from Jaden Social and Social Family Records as well as Billy Blue Music and The Reef Digital. Yep, it can be loud at times and then deathly silent at others … ok, so not that quiet but when everyone has headphones in tapping away on their keyboards that’s pretty much all you can hear.
I was also looking for someone who felt at ease chatting with myself and Jenna from the Social Family Records team as PR involves chatting with people you’ve never met before. You need to be confident but not arrogant or a know-all.
We received an encouraging number of applications and I met with a some amazing young people but I had to choose just one this time around. You will meet him in our next blog post and hear about his first impressions of this little start up.