A Day in the Life of being a… 5W Public Relations Intern

1. A Day in the Life of being a… 5W Public Relations Intern

2. 5WPR • -5WPR is a full service PR agency headquartered in New York with an office located in Los Angeles as well. • -”5W Public Relations (5W) exists to help the companies, people, and issues we work with get the attention and respect they deserve in a noisy, crowded world. We think on our feet, relentlessly uncover opportunities and never lose sight of our clients’ goals. We are known for full service public relations programs, big ideas, and providing resourceful programs and people that deliver game-changing results.” • -5W is one of the 25 largest independent PR firms in the United States • -5W has many awards under its belt including PR Agency of the year, fastest growing PR agency • -5W has worked with big name clients covering broad areas in the market such as:

3. 5w and my role within the company • -5WPR is a full service P.R. agency meaning that they specialize in many market areas such as consumer products, corporate communications, technology marketing, healthcare, travel & hospitality, food & beverage, lifestyle: fashion & home, beauty, entertainment and sports marketing, public affairs and government relations, and event marketing. • -Within 5W, I interned (but was not limited to) the health and beauty department. • -My requirements within the health and beauty department included: • formulating press releases and marketing events • writing pitches • compromising client clipbooks • product write-ups and send outs • media research and organizing media releases and events • *5W overall is a very large company so my writing skills, research, mail send outs and so forth were not limited to the health and beauty department. However, the health and beauty department was my main focus and was also definitely my favorite department overall to work with. The atmosphere was very fun and I have personal interest in all things health and beauty so I really adapted well to the research, product detail, and writing.

4. expectations • My expectations for this internship were not only met, but exceeded. • As an intern going into 5WPR, I expected to of course learn new things but I was honestly expecting to do things such as run errands, be sitting behind a computer all day, and so forth. • Now that I have finished my internship with 5W, I am overly pleased with how hands on all of the work was. For example: • I was writing actual pitches and news releases for the workers to edit and work with before publishing. • I was compromising final client clipbooks that were delivered to clients • I was able to research client products of 5W that have been featured in magazines and on T.V. and I was also able to try the products out for myself

5. Why I chose this internship • I chose this internship with 5W because within my major of journalism and media studies at Rutgers, I not only enjoy the writing aspects of it but I also like dealing with aspects of the media. • With Public Relations, you not only get to perform writing tasks such as pitching products to media outlets, composing news releases, and so forth, but you also need to establish media connections within platforms of television, magazines, websites and blogs, etc. This is of high interest to me. PR combines everything that I love about my major, and also, 5W is a very reputable and large agency. I thought it would be a great experience. • Also, I have previously interned with a television production company. Before being interested in P.R., I thought that I wanted to work within the television production industry. However upon completing an internship within television, I realized that it was very hectic and stressful. I wanted to try out something more ‘behind the scenes’ and office-like. An internship in public relations sounded like the perfect fit.

6. Relevant academic classes • Creative Writing • (taught me how to write for target audiences, which I used to write specifically to target clients within PR) • News Reporting and Writing • (taught me how to write pitches, news releases, and how to formulate my writing suitable for the media)

7. A typical day in the office • I arrived in the office every Wednesday and Friday at 9:30 a.m. I started my day off by checking my email account within the company and seeing if anyone requested me to specifically help them for the day. If not, I sent out a mass email asking who needed assistance. Throughout the day I would receive emails from workers asking for my help with a array of different projects. A majority of the time, I was introduced to research about specific clients and I was then asked to write-up pitches for the client/product targeted to a specific media outlet. Another example of a work task I would be asked to perform is product send-outs. This involved writing blurbs to magazine editors and television producers for example about the product, and further more asking them to feature our clients/products. I would then choose samples to send out to them. Every day I was asked to do a wide range of tasks, and they mainly centered around writing and connecting with media personnel.

8. MY GREATEST CHALLENGES • My greatest challenges were getting used to 5W’s large clientele. There are many departments and clients throughout the 5W company, and as an intern I had to help in any area that required help at the moment. I was often exposed to multiple clients and tasks in one day. I got used to it after the first few weeks however. • MY PROUDEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS • My proudest accomplishments were completing final clipbooks for clients. A final clipbook in Public Relations basically shows the client all coverage that 5W got for them over an entire year-long period. A final client clipbook requires a lot of research, organization, and personalization. I completed two final clipbooks for clients during my time interning at 5W.

9. Skills I have gained • TIME MANAGEMENT • In the world of Public Relations, in order to get media coverage for your clients you need to have products sent out, information finalized and deadlines met all on a strict time schedule! For example in order for me to get a client considered to be featured in the October editorial for GoodHousekeeping Magazine, I need to have products and information shipped out by a certain date in early September. My time management skills were tested greatly while I interned at 5W, and they have improved greatly. • WRITING FOR TARGETTED AUDIENCES WITHIN THE MEDIA • Through my writing classes I have taken at Rutgers, I learned how to write properly. Interning with 5W however taught me how to specifically write for targeted clients that I worked with however. From magazines to television outlets, targeted writing changes. • COMMUNICATION SKILLS • 5WPR is a very large company. Not only did I have to report to my supervisor everyday, but I also needed to communicate with the many employees across different departments in order to connect with them and get work done. My interpersonal communication skills greatly improved.

10. I actually do get the opportunity to complete this internship again! I am returning for a second semester at 5WPR! Upon returning to complete another internship at 5WPR, as told by my supervisor, I am going to have assigned clients. Compared to dealing with multiple clients across different areas, since I am returning for a second semester I am going to be assigned specific clients. Compared to last semester, I am going to research my specific clients more in depth since I am going to be working with them only for a few months. I want to learn more about my clients so I can better suit their needs.

11. Some of my work while at 5W! FORMULATED MEDIA LIST TO PITCH TO SAMPLE PITCH!

12. What I have learned about the pr career field • I have learned that Public Relations is all about getting coverage for your client in our very crowded world of media. Therefore, one of the most important things that I have learned from working within the PR field is to develop media relations. If you communicate well and develop relationships with producers and editors across mediated platforms then they will more than likely help you get your clients featured!

13. Career goals Short-term goals Long-term goals In April/May, I want to get hired as a full-time employee at 5WPR! That is my ultimate goal, however other long-term goals are to graduate in May and definitely get hired at any full-time job during the course of the summer that suits my interests and degree. Actions: 1. Continue to work hard at 5W and excel so that they consider me as a candidate for a full-time employee position. 2. Continue to work hard in school and get done everything I need to get done so I can easily graduate in May. 3. Starting in April, apply for handfuls of jobs within the P.R./production industry and go on interviews! • Returning as a 5WPR intern, I want to excel in all of my work there and build strong media relationships. • Actions: • 1. Connect with at least 3 editors/producers within the media and build a relationship with them. Email, go out for coffee, etc. That way, I will have a foot in the door when I need my clients to be featured in the media. • 2. Work hard everyday that I am at my internship. Continue to build relationships within the 5W company and really learn how to please my clients. I will do research on my clients and continue to work on improving my writing skills through practice.