Reflections on an Agency Internship in PR

I want to describe my first day at C. Pharr, but after a year and a half, I really only remember smiles, quick introductions and immediately getting to work. My internship began on August 27, 2015, and over the course of four semesters, I am so fortunate to say I have seen many aspects of public relations that helped me learn far more than I would in a classroom. I was able to work hands on with different projects for real clients and further my career along the way.

From the beginning of my internship, my supervisors handed over many writing assignments. I'll be the first to say writing is far from a strong skill of mine, but I've learned being honest with your skill set can only help you improve. I put forth strong effort in many of my writing assignments and got out of my comfort zone to work on my weakness. Although I am still far from perfect, I can confidently say practice has helped me improve significantly and led to success both in school and at my internship.

At the end of my first semester with C. Pharr, I was given an assignment to pitch a story about a local teacher at Trinity Christian Academy (TCA), one of the clients I worked with often. I researched who I wanted to pitch the story to and ended up coming across Jenny Anchondo with Fox 4 news. Even though she didn't pick up the story, she had a connection to the teacher through both of them being involved in the KIPP literacy program. She sent the pitch on to her colleagues, and after our winter break in the office, I came back to the exciting news that Clarice Tinsley wanted to cover the heartwarming story on the "Hometown Heroes” segment. You can see the coverage and read more about my experience here.

In the summer of 2016, I was asked to participate in planning an event for a non-profit client, Primary Care Clinics of North Texas. Event planning is a little bit more complicated than they make it seem in the movies, and the work involved more than what was taught in the classroom. I learned event planning requires a lot of detailed planning and I was able to plan ahead by creating a checklist of everything we would need before, during and after the event. It was a great experience and I’m confident I’ll be able to plan my next event with more ease.

As my last semester is coming to an end, I'm proud of all the work I’ve accomplished thanks to my dedicated supervisors I've had over the past four semesters at C. Pharr. I was able to gain a broad range of experience and gain a greater understanding of the diverse industries our clients are in – everything from education to non-profits, commercial real estate and even corporations. Some people decide to have multiple internships, but I think I was fortunate enough to stumble upon this agency to offer the experience necessary to begin a successful career in public relations.

This post was contributed by Elizabeth LaMonte, C. Pharr Intern.

Reflections on an Agency Internship in PR

Professor for a Day

I recently had the opportunity to speak with students in a social media class at the University of Texas at Arlington about finding and engaging your audience using social media. The class was attentive (they live-tweeted! Check out #PREL3320) and asked some great questions about responding to negative posts, what to post, when to post, and they even had some good questions about internships/resumes.

Whether you’re still a student or a seasoned PR pro, we could all use a little social media advice. Here are a few points I made to the class.      

Know your audience. Before you dive-in and adopt every social media tool out there, know who it is you’re trying to reach and adopt one or two platforms that your audience uses most. For example, B2B clients are likely to find their audience and influencers on LinkedIn and Google+, whereas B2C clients might find their audience on Facebook and Instagram.

Set a goal. When launching a client’s social media page, set clear goals and objectives before you make the page “live.” By having clear and measurable goals, you’ll know if you’re on the right track with your messaging and if you are effectively reaching your audience.

Use social media to tell your story. Whether you want to spotlight your corporate culture, recruit new employees, share product news and/or engage in thought leadership, social media can be a great channel to share your message. Just remember the social media “rule of thirds.” One-third of your content should focus on self-promotion, one-third should be spent commenting on trends/news/thought leadership and one-third should be personal interactions online and building your company’s brand. 

Focus on what works best. Visual content is typically the most engaging, so if your audience isn’t resonating with text-heavy messaging or links to events/articles, consider reducing your frequency of those types of posts.

For more on what we discussed, check out the #PREL3320 hashtag on Twitter.

This post was contributed by Krystal Morris. @KrystalNMorris.

Professor for a Day

Lessons Learned From a C. Pharr & Co. Internship

Stepping foot into any office on the first day of work is always intimidating; first impressions are crucial and the night before my first day as the summer intern at C. Pharr & Co. consisted of me scrambling around my room until late, flinging clothes out of my closet in exasperation because nothing was "right." I wanted to make the best first impression possible because this was my first public relations internship and I knew it could lead to many opened doors for me in the future. Leaving the next morning with ample time to get there, a packed lunch and hopeful attitude, I embarked on the commute from Fort Worth to Dallas.

Arriving without any time to spare and I was welcomed into the cozy office with wide smiles and cheery hellos, I received a quick round of introductions and was led to my desk for the summer. I went over terms, phrases and example documents of what I would be doing and was shown how to media clip, an action I would become overly familiar with early on into the summer. Possessing a practically nonexistent knowledge of public relations besides a few terms remembered from the one class taken at SMU, I eagerly soaked in the new concepts and worked hard to strengthen these new skills. I grew comfortable entering the quiet office, sitting at my desk and working diligently all day until my time came to leave. At first, I was perplexed by how silent the office was all day; I'd imagined an office where people were constantly chattering. However, the silence suits the work attitude they all possess: efficient, time aware and hard working.

As I wrap up my last day at my first PR internship, I am so thankful I was given the opportunity to engage with such a knowledgeable team. I'd heard so many horror internship stories where all anyone did was scan, fax, and file papers, and I feared I too would be doing the same, but it couldn't have been more opposite. The hands on opportunities pushed me so far out of my comfort zone at the beginning, but I grew to love coming to work to see what I would learn. This internship has not only taught me about the many different aspects of a PR firm and how to do the behind-the-scenes work, but also countless important career advice. I sat down with all the women who work here and compiled a list of the most significant words of wisdom they had to share:

• Be resourceful always
• Never be above anything
• Take an intro to business class so that you can understand their perspective
• Learn about particular industries and become a "surface level expert"
• Absorb as much as possible
• Always keep up with the news
• Be proactive
• Keep in touch

Hearing advice from professionals who have been in my same position of "What am I going to do in one year?" is comforting. Their tidbits were beyond useful because they not only motivate me to keep working hard throughout my senior year, but also push me to strive for excellence in my work.

The next time I'm freaking out about my "first day" outfit and stressing about what everyone will think of me, I just need to remember that everyone has been there before. The women at C. Pharr & Co. have been supportive and eager to help me grow, and I know they wanted to provide me with an internship that would teach me lessons I would utilize later on, which I know I certainly will. 

This post was contributed by Molly O'Connor, CPC Summer Intern.

Lessons Learned From a C. Pharr & Co. Internship