Welcome back to another Ask Me Anything, a weekly series where we talk to our friends, our viewers, and our community about all of their pressing needs, questions, wants, and desires.
Let’s take a look at the mailbag to see which questions are burning this week.
Hi All. Does anyone have a pool of communications interns?
Find Communications Interns at Universities
When we’re looking for interns, I go to my friends who run the PR departments at universities and ask for their top students.
But I also recognize that not everybody has friends who run PR departments at universities.
(Although if you need to be networked in, let me know!)
So that’s the first thing we do.
I’ll call my friends and say, “Hey, we’re looking for an intern that can do this, this, and this. Who do you have?”
They’ll then send me three or four candidates and we suddenly have a pool of several from four or five different schools.
Make friends with the people who run or teach in the PR programs at universities.
They’re all very nice people—and you have something in common that you are communications experts.
I started out by following people on Twitter and building relationships that way.
They’re all there because they have to be to teach their students how to use social media.
Start there.
Find Communications Interns at Student-Led Firms
Just like working with the PR programs at universities, many of them have student-led PR firms that will take on clients.
In some cases, they may only work with non-profits, but in many others, they’ll work with corporations and agencies.
Depending on your needs, this may be a very viable option for you.
Find Communications Interns Through PRSSA
The third option is to work with your local PRSSA chapters.
They often have student-led firms, too. And they always have students who need internships.
Most PR programs require comms students to have at least two internships to graduate so working with these student-led organizations will help you find the right talent.
Have a Question For Us?
What about you? What are your favorite resources for finding interns for your communications team?
Let us know in the comments below.
And, if you have a question for a future AMA you can drop them below or join us in the (free) Spin Sucks Community.
You can also find us on social media, email us, or stop by my house with a bottle of wine for porch drinking.