The Risk and Reward of Taking a PR Agency Internship Post-College

Samantha Jones Toal

I remember raising my hand during my final advertising course in college. The professor was hosting a Q&A where everyone was required to ask just one thing. I was shuffling in my seat, fearful of asking the question that would reveal all my cards: Graduation was approaching, and I had no full-time offer on the table. I had hammered out application after application, with no luck. Fortunately, I wasn’t totally without options.

“Is it OK to take an internship after graduation?” I asked. To my relief, I was reassured to hear that sometimes taking an internship post-grad is the way to go. But I still felt unsettled, knowing I’d have to bring my A game in order to get hired — but was truthfully unsure what my A game would look like in a role I could hardly picture. The position was Public Relations Intern at an integrated marketing agency in Chicago that I'd had my eye on since sophomore year.

When I started the summer internship, I knew I had 3-months to prove that I’d be an excellent full-time hire. It was stressful. I doubted myself. And in some ways, I got lucky. It’s not always crystal clear how an organization will end up hiring, but here’s my advice for anyone wondering what it’s like to take an internship after graduation. 

You’re going to feel the pressure. If there are six interns and only twenty full-time employees in the department, you’re probably going to do the math and realize it’s not likely everyone is going to get hired. It may be challenging feeling uncertain about your future, but stay humble and grateful for the opportunity at hand.

You have to rise to the occasion. As an intern, I was doing the same job as a full-time employee — just with two or three clients instead of five or six. To be honest, it was difficult. Entering the world of B2B tech and public relations, it was information overload and I found myself floundering more than excelling. You’ll learn coming in on time and meeting deadlines is the least you can do.

Make friends, make connections. Go out of your way to make strong acquaintances, connections and friends. Your fellow interns are in the same spot as you are and can serve as great resources. There are some questions that aren’t the best to bring to your manager. But to your fellow intern? Absolutely. Help each other as much as you can. Make sure to connect with managers, different account leads, different departments — you name it. If there isn’t a spot for you to come on full-time, someone at the agency could be the gateway to the next best thing.

Advocate for yourself. If you’re not receiving immediate feedback on your job performance, ask for it. Be sure to communicate to your manager what’s going well, what you enjoy doing, and where you see improvement. Most internships have channels for these kinds of conversations, but if there aren’t, create these channels. If you like the culture of the agency and are proud of the work you’re doing, don’t be afraid to say that you’d love nothing more than to join the team permanently. 

You’ll be OK. It was nerve wracking when other interns started to get hired, and I had yet to hear anything. I recall distinctly a conversation I had with a fellow intern about how we weren’t sleeping over the uncertainty of it all. In the end, I was hired — she wasn’t. But bottom line, she did such a great job in the internship, her manager and others who worked with her served as great resources. She found a full-time job at a similar-sized PR agency weeks later and seems to be killing it. Sometimes, agencies may not have the budget to hire you. Sometimes, there’s tough decisions to be made between two great candidates. Sometimes, agency life isn’t a fit for the candidate. And sometimes, graduates find themselves in roles and realize the line of work is just not for them. But for smart, motivated graduates, the post-graduate internship experience will build up skills and connections, culminating into landing the right first job for you.