The life changing internship in PR and comms

By Nafisa Shafiq

The new Northern Lights Interns will be starting next month (congrats to ‘fab four’!) and unbeknown to them, they will be embarking on a rollercoaster ride – the kind that you queue an hour for, scream throughout and then at the end of it all, want to go on again!

A year ago, I took part in the internship – I call it the life changing internship!

After finishing my exams in May, I was offered a marketing position in a well known food manufacturing company (not name dropping but my client list included M&S, Sainsbury’s, Nando’s etc). The job was to start in July and my love for challenges and new opportunities made me apply for the Northern Lights PR Internship – the plan was to gain some real life experience before I start my new job and also show my new manager that I’m driven, passionate and so forth.

So, what happened to my plan?

In the space of three weeks I worked on projects for Hallmark, Northern Rail and Bradford School of Management (a dream come true for most grads!) I networked with people such as Andrew Palmer and Justin McKeown – individuals that I may never have come into contact with. And, I learnt from industry experts such as Karyn Fleeting and Jane Hustwit.

Seriously, it wasn’t just a crash course in PR but also a course in business and life!

I did go onto start my new marketing role and I immediately knew my heart wasn’t in it. Yes, I’m a foodie and I love branding and developing products, but working in comms gave me a buzz! That’s what I wanted to do!

I decided to leave my job and pursue a career in PR.

Over the last year I have completed numerous internships; I have worked for free, commuted for over two hours a day, worked long into the nights and on the week-ends – all to develop and hone my PR skills.

And gosh, how it was worth it! Last week, I was offered a role at Edelman Digital (I accepted and start next month!)

I honestly believe that this may not have been possible without the internship and without the Northern Lights team (including all contacts) support.

And so, my three tips for the new interns:

1. It’s three weeks.  They will fly by, so use them to your advantage. Learn from each and every person that you meet and use what you learn!
2. Give it your all! Be professional, polite, outstanding etc. You’d be surprised what and how much people remember about you
3. Don’t dismiss anyone! This is something that Victoria taught us in our networking session. It’s something I have since remembered and truly believe in -each and every person that I met through the internship has over the last year helped me in one way or another (can I just say thank-you to you all)

And of course enjoy the experience.

These are my tips for the interns. Is there anything that you think I’m missing or any other advice that you would like to give to the ‘fab four’?