Rising Senior, Simone Henderson (Communication & Media Studies major) completed an internship during the Spring 2023 semester with McNeil, Grey & Rice Strategic Communications. Read on to learn about her experience!
If you’re interested in doing your own internship but don’t know where to start, make an appointment with your Career Advisor by going to Handshake.
What was your internship? I interned for a communications agency called McNeil Grey and Rice Strategic Communications.
Why were you initially interested in this internship? While looking for an internship I stumbled across MGR on handshake. I took interest in what they were looking for in an intern which matched what I had already been studying. This meant working with spreadsheets, creating a Twitter following for clients, and doing PowerPoint. When applying back in December I did research about the internship and had an over-the-phone interview.
How did you find your internship? I found this internship through Handshake.
What did you do as part of your internship? Has this internship helped you work towards your future career goals? If so, how? This experience has enhanced my view on public relations, from talking to my site coordinator, the VP/ Director of McNeil, Gray and Rice, to her connecting me with different people who made my experience worthwhile by giving me much-needed training and real-world experience. I have assisted with publicity and social media projects, including growing client Twitter followers, and various research projects. I have updated spreadsheets and learned the process of pitching to media. I also helped create an editor follow-up and press portfolios in various PowerPoint. This has been an enlightening experience that has helped me get the real-world experience I have been craving. This experience has also helped me build connections that will hopefully come in handy in the near future.
What was your biggest lesson/takeaway from the internship? My biggest takeaway from this internship is while taking the classes is important, it is essential to go out in the field and learn from others. The work I was doing such as working on spreadsheets and powerpoints is something I am very familiar with in many of my classes. This was a great experience to put my knowledge to the test and show myself that I can apply what I am doing in school to this outside experience. This experience has also made me more confident in my choice to work in Public Relations when I graduate. Although as an intern I was mainly monitoring media coverage and reporting back to my site coordinator, this felt like such a step up in the right direction. It also helped me become more confident in being able to properly time manage between what the semester threw at me and working. This experience has also helped me to network and build connections.
What advice would you give to someone interested in a similar internship opportunity? The biggest piece of advice I would give someone is organization is your best friend. I kept a digital planner all semester to remind me of assignments for both my internship and coursework. This has kept me very stable in time management. I would also say don’t be afraid to ask questions and build connections it helps to know people in your workspace because it provides a smoother experience and may take you places you don’t expect.
Want to share your experiences during an internship? Email Kevin (kdeeb@rwu.edu) in the CCPD to learn more about sharing with us!
