Blogging for PR Internships

Hey Josh,

I guess I should answer this. There are only about 5 students in these classes this semester that have been blogging before. Now, some of them may have already landed an internship and speak to whether it has helped them.

Of the past students that have been participating in our blogging exercises, several of them have shared with me that the one thing they talked about in their interview - more than anything else - was the blogging and their digital resume. I should add here that the reason they talked about it is because the employers asked about it. The employers were actually being educated by their new hires. This relates to Stephen’s post and his comment here. Also, most recently, Erin Caldwell has received two internships directly related to her blogging.

Some have said that they believe it was this extra knowledge and experience that was the deciding factor in getting the gig. Although we have been doing this for about 2 years now, there is still a need to see it play out. Some of those first blogging students have only just graduated.

I think a good research project would be to find all of those past students and interview them to see if they are reaping any rewards. The problem is - finding them. They do seem to scatter quickly and not provide forwarding addresses, despite our efforts to keep track of them. I’ll look into this and see if it is viable. Perhaps we can undertake that this semester.

Hi Josh,

I agree, we’ll certainly see a lot more of this type of recruitment in the coming years. In fact I consider myself quite lucky in that not many other PR students have taken up blogging just yet.

In the UK, the competition for jobs after graduation is fierce and no doubt, in the future, we’ll see this competitiveness hit the online world also.

But at this moment in time, it’s an ideal opportunity for likes of the Marcomblog students and myself to take advantage of it.

Also, regarding Robert’s comment about his students mentioning their blogs in interviews, I wholeheartedly agree. What better way to show potential employees what you’ve been doing out of study as well as in.

And let’s be honest, each of Robert’s students will know more about blogging and other social media than the majority of highly regarded practitioners.

On a side note: It was through university I got into blogging also. Philip Young from the Mediations blog is one of my lecturers.

Yes, as an employer I’d recommend all PR students to learn about the impact which blogging etc is having on the media, corporate reputations and the communications industry. One of the best ways to learn is to practice - so set up a blog, record a podcast, read and comment on other blogs, so you learn to mores. It’s not something you can really learn from a book or second-hand.

Stephen secured his internship via his blog - it helped him make connections and gave him a showcase for his thinking. At the moment, that’s a differentiator. Soon it will be a routine checkbox.

The bigger picture though is that since the PR and media industries are changing so much at the moment, there is a massive opportunity for those new to PR to rival the old hands when it comes to navigating these dynamics. None of us can lay claim to lengthy experience in these tools, nor can we confidently claim to know how this will pan out. So students can deliver value at a really early stage in their careers.

So jump in - it’ll help you get a job, build your experience and it might even be fun.

WOW! This is great news to hear! That blogging can actually help us land internships or help in landing our first job upon graduation! I know i am so thankful to be in Robert’s class learning how to blog and just to be getting the whole social media experience. Maybe some of us in our class should be so lucky to get a job from it. Nonetheless, i will feel proud to say in future interviews that i can blog and have much social media experience.

At first, I thought blogs were silly teenager online-diary type deals, I had no idea that they could actually be business-related. Now I can’t wait to keep up my blog and learn more about the pr world from this.

Auburn pr students definitely have an edge as being one of the only blogging universities. I wish other schools had this same opportunity, other students should be getting the same experience we are blessed to have. I feel lucky!

Congrats Stephen!

As Robert mentioned, I snagged two internships for this semester as a result of his Style and Design class and my blogging. (BIG thanks to Robert!!)

For the internship with Camp ASCCA, I’ll be managing a blog, producing podcasts and possibly videocasts — so obviously, my experience with blogging is a great starting point for those experiences.

My other internship is with Jen McClure and all of her New Communications endeavors. When she and I first started talking about the possibility of working with her, she was very enthusiastic about my blogging experience. She said she’d read my blog, was impressed with my writing, and felt my experience with this new communication tool made me perfect for the position, as that’s precisely the kind of support her clients are looking for. (She was impressed, I was flattered, now we’re working together! It’s good all around!)

Internship opportunities — one of the many great reasons for students to blog.

Well, I will play devil’s advocate (because I am just that damn good at it). Blogs can be too like The Facebook or MySpace, where students do not think through what they are writing.

And, that in itself is something that needs to be addressed. What you write can be found, and can follow you. Be careful what you write on your blog, and be conscientious of what you write and how it might be taken by others.

On one PR blog, I read about a person’s right-wing leanings, and his diatribe against the Democrats. That made me want to never talk to the student, forget about hiring him.

I agree that students familiar with blogging have a competitive edge over their non-blogging counterparts. When it comes to finding a job, employers are going to be impressed with the fact that students are taking part in today’s cutting-edge technology. Two students could have almost identical resumes, but the student who includes his or her experience with blogging will have precedence over the student lacking this experience. My friend landed an internship last year with Southern Living at Home. She said her employer was impressed with her blogging experience and with the digital resume that she created in Robert’s class.

Although blogging can help us secure an internship, we must be careful what we blog about once landing that internship. Putting words in writing holds us reliable for any information we post about our company. I read an interesting article titled “To Blog or Not to Blog.� As mentioned in the article, “employees have been fired when their employer construed their blog posts as sharing confidential information, making inappropriate comments about the company or both. Posting company news, pictures, and even making positive comments about a company have cost bloggers their jobs.�

As long as people are smart about the information they choose to include in their posts, blogging has its many advantages.

This is encouraging news. I will admit that I was not looking forward to blogging at all. Especially blogging about PR. Honestly, before my first day in Robert’s class, I thought that all blogging was online journals where people pour out their hearts for any random person to read. But in that first class, we learned that blogging is the newest thing in PR. I really didn’t know how much I was going to have to write about. I thought it was going to be extremely hard. But now, after my first week of blogging, I’ve come to realize that PR covers many different areas of business, PR is all around us, and it’s not so hard to blog about it.

It is reassuring to know that many employers are now hiring graduates who have blogging experience. I have been wondering how on earth I was going to set myself apart from the thousands of other people graduating with a PR/Communication degree. Auburn is the first school that made students blog, and now only one or two other schools teach their students theses skills, as they relate to Public Relations. I like to think that Auburn people possess that something extra when it comes to people skills and work ethic, but through this Style and Design class, I know that I am going to learn technology skills that will help me set myself apart from other job applicants. My friend Makenzi Hamilton got a great job at the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce because of her work in French’s class. I just hope that I can remember everything I learn so I can get a good job!

Carolyn: Thanks for your kind words! And I agree also - Auburn students do have an edge.

Erin: Well done my friend! Another prime example. I’ll be keeping an eye our for a podcast coming our way soon.

Jeremy: I agree but I don’t think there’s any harm going a little off topic or showing a little personality now and again. Blogging is a learning experience and even now after only nine months of it, I look at my old posts and think to myself: “What were you thinking?”

Sarah: Smart blogging is definitely the way forward. But on the flip side to your comment - blogging could make you your company’s best advocate. There are countless examples of this.

Amanda: Very true. PR (in the UK at least) is often known as a profession that is slow to spot new trends and technologies. Learning blogging and other social media tools will not only set you apart from other graduates but also PR pros. As Morgan mentions above - this is a good opportunity for us ‘newbies’ to rival the experienced guys at a new communiation channel.

Stephen

It is great to hear of all these internship opportunities, but it is also very scary. I personally have just started blogging and don’t feel very comfortable with it yet. I am afraid that I will make a dumb post early and it will come back to haunt me in the future. I don’t plan on making any major mistakes, but bad things do happen.

Even though I am afraid to make a dumb post, it is probably better to make a dumb post now as a student instead of when I am a “professional”. I don’t have a job to lose now. I just have a class to fail. I can always take a class more than once. But I might not get another chance at a job.

I don’t consider myself very computer savvy, but yet I can get the job done. It looks like from all the posts that technology is the way to get a decent job. That is something I hope to gain from this Style and Design class. That is something I am going to have to work on to be successful.

All in all I believe this blogging experience will only help and not hurt. If we as students can master what Robert teaches us and apply it when we graduate then there should be nothing besides ourselves stopping us from succeeding.

I agree with the previous comment that this is encouraging news! I, like many others who have commented, thought that blogs were just online journals where people babbled about their lives. Now that I have been more exposed to the ‘blog world’ I see that the possibilities are endless. Blogging can be good not only for networking but also for seeing all sides of issues.
This past semester I interned with a Major League Baseball Team in the community relations department, and to be honest I don’t see blogs being needed or helpful in that department (at least not in this particular organization). However, in the future this may very likely be something that is used, and I will have that experience that many new graduates will lack.
With technological capabilities advancing, it is always useful to have the experience before it is needed rather than to learn something as it is needed. I am interested to see if/how blogging helps my fellow classmates in internship/ job hunting.

Much like all of the other comments said, before taking Robert’s Style & Design and Survey Research classes I was unaware of all the limitless possibilities blogging has to offer. Last summer I was able to land an internship with a small business-to-business agency in Alpharetta, GA (north of Atlanta). This particular agency is really on the up-swing and although they don’t have their own blog, blogging was mentioned many a time. Unaware of the impact blogging can have on Public Relations, I was unable to comment on their discussions concerning blogging.

Like many students in my position (looking to soon graduate), the thought of competing with thousands of other people makes me feel as if I have no real unique characteristics to set myself apart from the herd. However, after reading Josh’s post concerning Stephen’s incredible job offer, I feel like blogging can help to differentiate me from the crowd!

In the four years I have been at Auburn University, Robert’s class was the first to mention the benefits of blogging. Many advisors and professors are unaware of how helpful blogging can and will be to graduates. It still amazes me that blogging is so popular, yet Auburn University is only one of a handful of universities that are offering classes based on blogging and its benefits for Public Relations.

Robert mentioned in his comment that many employers are asking job candidates if they have had blog experience, and are looking to learn more about blogging from the recent college grads. I look forward to interviewing for jobs in the near future, and being able to show off my blogging skills, along with my digital resume!

I agree and disagree with Josh on this topic of blogs helping in landing an internship/job. Yes, they can help in a large way by giving a company your blog for them to look at your style of writing, some background information and even your resume if you want. Like in Erin’s case, she got offered an internship because an employer liked her writing. You are putting yourself out there for everyone to see what you write about. It can be a good thing if they like you, but if they don’t then it is not to your advantage. I agree also with the other comments that this is new to the PR world and we will already have our foot in the door when we are applying for jobs. That is a major plus and I think companies will jump on the opportunity to learn a new aspect of technology that they don’t know already.
I also disagree with the blog helping you get a job or internship because it can be used against you. If they don’t like what you write or see an invaluable trait in you that could not be of use to their company, then they won’t hire you. I agree with Jeremy about people just writing anything and everything on their blog. The first post I wrote on my blog took me over an hour to write because I was so scared I was going to write the wrong thing. It is just like Myspace and Facebook, everyone can see any kind of information about you that you make available. Hopefully my blog will work to my advantage and I can get offered an internship from it.

I agree that this is very good news, especially for us seniors that will graduate soon. I am glad to hear that we are involved in something that will set us apart from the masses when we enter into the job market. Public relations is, in a sense, a double edged sword. It is always interesting and exciting because it is constantly changing and updating itself. The catch is, as a public relations practitioner you must change and update as well. I consider myself to be very lucky that I am able to participate in something that will allow me to be a valuable asset to an organization because I am up to date with the most recent developments. Therefore, I believe that blogging is a very good thing to be familiar with these days.
However, I also believe that blogging can be a very dangerous thing. While posting blogs can help us to gain the attention of professionals in the field and give them reason to hire us, they can also be the kiss of death. We must be very careful of how we express our opinions in our blogs. If we do not express our thoughts in a sensible and intelligent way, the very blog that had the potential to land us a job or internship could very well send those potential employers running.
So, I believe that blogging is a very wonderful thing to be apart of because it allows us to be on the cutting edge of public relations. And in our business, this is definitely the best place to be!

I personally find it refreshing to know that what I am doing in the Style and Design class will be beneficial to me later on when I enter the “real world.� So many of us already have facebook accounts and livejournals that we write in or check religiously, which if you really think about it, is a pure waste of time. I consider myself one of those that wastes time on these websites, when we in Robert’s class have an opportunity to gain some much needed web experience. Spending so much time over our first official posts is a good thing. I would much rather become comfortable with blogging now instead of being slammed with this new communication outlet once I land that first job. And our future employers will be looking at our blogs. There have been articles all over the news lately about employers using college interns to look up the Facebook profiles of potential job candidates. I would much rather have an employer do a Google search for me and find a website that acts as a portfolio of my thoughts and ideas related to the field. Even if they don’t necessarily agree with my thoughts and ideas on a certain topic, at least they know I can process information and apply it to public relations. They will know that I have the technological skills to run a public relations blog. Erin is just one great example of what our blogging skills can do for us. We just have to be confident enough at the end of the semester to brag about the things we have learned.

I have not had the pleasure of obtaining an internship, yet. I would imagine that in my interviews I will be able to set myself apart from many others by letting my interviewer know that I have been educated in the fine art of blogging. Blogging is one of those things that a person either loves to do, or learns to tolerate. I like to think that I am working on the former. In the beginning I was upset at the thought of blogging five times a week. All the blogging would do is to take up my time. Then after one week of doing it and researching it I realized how up and coming it is. On the Pew Internet and American Life Project website, a survey taken in May 2005 showed some promising data. It showed that 9 percent of internet users have created blogs and 25 percent read them. That is a great amount of people that have become interested in blogging.
The statistics that caught my eye the most was of those people who blogged their ages played a part. Of online Americans surveyed, 19 percent were between the ages of 18 and 29. Only 5 percent were 50 years and older. I feel that when I walk into an interview these type of numbers will speak volumes. As a young professional I will be able to tell them that the new innovations in communication have already been taught to me and that I will be willing to help out and teach others. Of course these findings are of a survey done 8 months ago, and I would like to think that the statistics have grown in favor of blogging over those last few months.
So I guess when I really think about it, blogging will become a labor of love for me. If nothing more it will become a labor that I will come to tolerate and make me profitable in the workforce. Either way it is a win-win situation.

Here is my blogging-internship success story…

Last year Katie Smith and I created a blog called InternQuest. The point was to look at various internships and get professionals in the field to comment on what the experience is like in their company.

Even though PR majors at Auburn University cannot gain credit for internships before their senior year, I thought I would get some good occupational karma and complete two or three before graduation.

Bloggings first gift to me was at a PRSA conference in Birmingham. It was a meet and greet with professionals deal, and I was lucky enough to be one of the only students at my table. The speaker began to address blogs as a form of communication, and every ear in the room perked up. Although the speaker downplayed their importance, every professional around me was buzzing about the subject. Luckily, I had some good input, thanks to Robert French, who had taught my Foundations in PR class that semester.

As a result, I got an interview with the Children’s Hospital of Birmingham for their internship position in the Corporate Communications Department. Looking back, I lacked most of my major classes at that point, so compared to the other students interviewing, I was under qualified. In the interview, they took one look at my resume and immediately asked about my blogging experience.

Long story short, I got the internship and loved it.

See, what Jeremy said about blogging just scares me.

As excited as I am for all of the end result opportunities, I’m just so new to this! I have struggled to find thought-provoking topics for my blogs that would catch people’s attention. But sometimes it is hard to grab attention without discussing current news and politics, which can definitely be controversial. In this case, suffice it to say that bad attention would not be good attention.

My blogging experience thus far, has been about trying to clarify things. I want to interact with people who are more experienced with blogging and podcasting and all of that because those are many of my questions. But I’m just not sure me sitting around after doing some research online and going, “huh?” and asking questions is exactly wowing those professionals to death and leaving them begging for me to join a company through an internship.

But, I am confident that when I get my questions out of the way and start to understand these mediums better, I will be able to post more intelligent blogs that can really discuss the strategic uses of the new technology in PR.

Hopefully, for right now I can have some good contact with professionals who can clarify my understanding of all of this technology and maybe I will wow someone someday also.

For all of you who are being patient with our mere mortal student blogs, thank you! Hopefully we will prove ourselves later and maybe even land some internships of our own!

Hi Josh!
I must say your blog gives me great hope. My very first post was about my uncertainty of what I want to do in public relations and even where I want to do my internship. I am not very technological, so the whole blogging society somewhat scared me at first, but to hear that it truly will serve a purpose is quite encouraging. Robert did tell us the first day in class about previous students who were hired strictly on the basis of blogging and knowing all about the things we will learn in his class. I am a bit nervous that I may write things and not clearly think through what I am saying or that I may have an opinion one day that could completely change the next day. It is a bit frightening to know my words and thoughts are out there in the internet world for all to see. It can leave a person feeling a bit vulnerable. It is difficult to start of blogs especially when your blogs must be strictly about public relations, but honestly public relations is all around us. I am hoping that I will soon become an expert at blogging, but we shall see. Thanks again for the encouragement!

I’m fortunate in the fact that the field in which I hope to enter has already embraced blogging. I hope to gain an internship and eventually work in an art museum. The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s blog, Eye Level, will, no doubt give exposure of the media to potential employers. My experience will definitely benefit since the Smithsonian is currently the only blog of its kind that I can find. The fine arts are always trying to find new ways to reach people, and anyone willing to back it up with new ideas is welcome.

This is a way for us to show off what we can do. We’re being forced to grow up and get out there. Too often we are given the comfort of a classroom and a teacher who expects less than our capabilities. Style and Design asks us to put our thoughts out there to be critiqued by the eyes of the corporate world. That is truly the largest benefit.

Just over these past 10-12 months, I have really begun to gain an excitement about my future in Public Relations. Why is this? I am finally starting to see the actual type of work that we will be doing in PR. Finally it’s not just reading 3 chapters and taking a test, but rather taking an idea, applying the idea, and doing a project in which you learn multimedia, and even create portfolios and resumes that will be beneficial out of college. Having taken Multimedia Production, I now understand how beneficial programs like flash, photoshop, and dreamweaver can be NOT ONLY in creating a unique resume, but also in use after college in a real job. How does blogging come into this equation? Well, it’s just another thing that I KNOW will enhance my credentials, and give me a new experience and perspective on PR and the opportunities associated with them. I look forward to gaining more opportunities with the education that I am receiving this semester in different multimedia, AND blogging itself.

We’ve introduced a couple of our interns (both PR students at Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK) to blogging. Both have contributed to client blogs and are rapidly learning about social media. I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t see at least one of them start to do thier own thing. I’ve blogged about it here:

http://www.stuartbruce.biz/2006/01/pr_students_you.html

Hi Josh,
I think that as soon as I get comfortable with the blogging thing, I will hope that future employers might look at my comments and posts. I enjoy posting on my website and hope that my website is what they will see the most of.
I like it because they can find out a little about me while (hopefully) reading something interesting. This is my third or fourth week blogging and I do feel as if I can be comfortable and even let out a little of my personality.
I really do enjoy reading the comments and blogs of my friends as well. I can see where blogs can take me and I think I take that a little too seriously. I am looking at an internship right now that is all about new technologies. The application is all online and I am sure that blogs are the big thing over there as well. I hope to get my online resume finished soon as well so that I can have an edge on other students from other schools.
It is so hard to stick out when a lot of us look the same on paper. This creates a new edge for people like me who are new to the full-time working world.
I guess I will just have to let you know if all of this blogging helps me out with and internships or jobs. Until then, I will just have to keep my fingers crossed!