Why PR interns should never be unpaid
These eager, young, career-driven workers tackle a ton of important tasks that might otherwise not get done. They deserve compensation—and respect—commensurate with their contributions.
Every intern should walk away with at least two relevant, quantifiable accomplishment stories to add to their resume. They also should receive one-on-one mentoring throughout the internship. Interns should have hands-on projects and real responsibilities.
A good internship offers opportunities to build skills and character. It allows you to experience a professional environment, which can affect your future career decisions. If an internship does not offer these things, it’s not worth it.
There is zero value in public relations internships consisting only of filing, answering phones, and doing coffee runs. Where’s the value in that? Even if interns are building media list after media list, they’re still learning something by completing that task. (Heck, I run my own firm now and still build media lists.)
Hopefully your public relations internship program is already offering the elements I just described. If not, get on that immediately. Something else you must be incorporating that’s a quick change: pay. Public relations internships should never be unpaid. The work these interns do offers significant value to the company and deserves compensation.
Public relations interns are responsible for so many important things:
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