Advice to Prospective Interns (from an Intern)

This guest post was contributed by Conor McClure (@conorjmcclure), one of our rockstar interns this spring. He hails from North Carolina, where he’s finishing up a degree in music business at Appalachian State University. When he’s not promoting Cyber PR artists 40 hours / week, he blogs at his personal website conormcclure.net, is an avid photographer, and is obsessed with all things digital.

Hi everyone! Conor here. First, a bit about myself. I came to Cyber PR from Appalachian State University down in North Carolina, where I am in the final phases of completing my undergraduate B.S. in Music Industry Studies. The degree program, a sort of hybrid music business degree based in the Hayes School of Music, is a nationwide leader, producing graduates who have mastered Grammy-nominated singles and produced blockbuster films. My own passions lie in the digital realm of marketing, so applying to intern at Cyber PR was a no-brainer. I was ecstatic when I received the good news.

My first day in the office was January 6, and I’m finishing up here in about two weeks. I think now’s a great time to talk about some things I’ve learned while here—mainly, what to expect out of an internship, and how to make the best out of it.

This is no coffee-run internship

Let’s get this one out of the way quickly: most people associate unpaid internships with coffee runs and data entry. This might hold true in more corporate environments, where the staff is already well-equipped to handle tasks without your help, and internships are basically akin to indentured servitude. In those cases, sure, you’ll probably just have to suck it up and clean the toilets when told to. Here at Cyber PR, my work as an intern was always valuable to the company. Very rarely did my supervisors ever assign me to do useless, menial labor. If you must do an unpaid internship, I encourage you to seek out a smaller business with a more hands-on team; your work is much more likely to be of greater value.

The boring work doesn’t have to be boring

All that being said, sometimes you have to do boring, tedious stuff. (This isn’t just an intern thing; Ariel’s salaried staff are often doing the same thing. It’s not all fun and games here, people!) That doesn’t mean that copy-pasting into spreadsheets has to be boring. If, like me, your internship is your first 40 hour/week experience, then this is a great time to start to craft and perfect efficient workflows, time management plans, and pacing skills.

You’ll learn communication skills quickly, whether you want to or not

I like to think that I’m an extrovert. The stereotypes hold true—I’m a southerner in New York City, so I automatically come off as a bit over-polite and patient. However, if you’re assigned phone duty (which you will be,) you’ll soon find yourself dealing with all sorts of people from all over the world with all sorts of communication abilities. You will rapidly develop the ability to handle each of them appropriately, a skill that is incredibly valuable in the real world and, with the advent of emails and texting, increasingly difficult to find.

You won’t always like the product you’re promoting

And that’s okay. For example, I’m not the biggest EDM fan in the world. But when I’m tasked with promoting a new EDM artist, then believe me, I’m going to promote the crap out of them. When you take on a job, you take on the responsibilities that come with it, whether you always agree with them. We can’t always reserve our time for the best of the best or our favorite thing; sometimes, you have to work with products (artists, genres, people, etc.) that you aren’t in love with, but it’s your job to set that aside. This is something you’ll have to do in any job you ever have, so it’s a valuable skill to learn now.

Networking is critical

One of my professors back in school was notoriously fond of preaching the importance of networking, and is probably laughing to herself as she reads this article, because I’m admitting that she was so right. The prospect of meeting new people, making or answering cold calls, and hosting parties for strangers (“VIPs”) can be very intimidating for many people, but it’s important to keep in mind that you never know if one of these people will be your next boss, or will be putting you in touch with your next boss. When you hear of these opportunities that may extend beyond your weekly hourly quota or comfort zone, think twice before dismissing them. You’re still young, and these are chances that you don’t want to miss out on.

You’ll learn to really appreciate your victories

At Cyber PR, we pride ourselves on our ability to have our clients represented as promised. However, it might not always be understood that, more often than not, with each success comes 10 failures. It can be very dissatisfying to send so many emails and get so few responses back. In the end, this is how the game is played, and you learn to accept that. It makes you work that much harder to achieve success, and when you do, you feel that much better about it. Clients, take note: each victory, whether it seems like it or not, is hard-earned.

You never know what will come after this

Let’s be honest: as interns, we often go into these internships expecting—or hoping—to get a job out of it. It could be a full-time job, or a nice reference letter, or something else. Many of us might know that it doesn’t often work out that way for everyone. I can say that it does work out for people who really set their minds to it.

Don’t fall into this mindset: “Oh, I’m just an intern, they’re not even paying me, so why bother?”

I know this all from experience here. The more you apply yourself in your job, the more you stand to get out of it. Lately, I’m been doing more and more “real” work here (read: paying work.) And I have plans to continue providing a variety of services to Cyber PR and related companies, and am in talks with others through my coworkers’ recommendations. This all happened because I was diligent, set my mind to it, and worked hard.

No two internships out there are exactly alike. If you come to intern at Cyber PR, you may have a similar experience that I did, or it may be completely opposite. There are always going to be many elements that are beyond your control. I can guarantee you though, take some of this advice, really apply yourself at whatever you end up doing, and you’re bound to see good things come out of it.

By the way, if you are interested in interning with Cyber PR, check out this page for more information. And some insider advice: call in and ask about it. It shows guts, and will leave a good impression.

Good luck!