PRSA Colorado recently hosted their annual Shadow Week event, which gives students at Colorado-based universities involved in the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) an opportunity to connect with public relations professionals and learn more about the fascinating world of PR.
As an active member of PRSA Colorado, we’ve participated in Shadow Week for years. Our team is always eager to share invaluable professional experience to help shape the next generation of communications professionals.
This year, we had the privilege of hosting Alaina Tennison, a Colorado State University student studying journalism and media communications. Check out Alaina’s top five takeaways from her time with us in the office at Linhart PR:
- Public relations is a versatile and diverse career that fosters and demands creativity. Clients vary across industries and in the challenges they face, which requires different strategic approaches and thinking outside of the box, so it never gets boring or repetitive.
- Public relations necessitates collaboration, within agency teams and with clients. While sitting in on a media brainstorm for one of Linhart PR’s food and beverage clients, I learned that listening and building on each other’s thinking leads to innovative, on-brand ideas.
- It's okay, and even encouraged, to ask for advice. While shadowing multiple employees at Linhart PR, I was given the chance to ask questions about PR paths and transitioning from school to a career. I learned more about interviewing, got help with my resume and LinkedIn profile, and received professional advice that I will take with me into my future career. Everyone at Linhart PR was willing to listen and to answer any questions I had. This open-door policy also leads to great work for clients, as colleagues can learn from each other and past experiences.
- Public relations is not easy; it requires unique talents and skills to be successful. While at Linhart PR, I learned about some of the many tasks that are typical of the job, such as researching reporters to build targeted media lists that increase the chances of securing coverage for clients’ products, stories and initiatives and developing reports to showcase results and value to clients, just to name a few. It takes hard work and dedication to navigate and complete the many tasks that create effective client projects and programs.
- Public relations is also fun! I got to see firsthand what a typical day looks like in the field. Linhart PR is a vibrant and creative community that knows how to balance work and life. There are so many opportunities to collaborate as a team and come up with new ideas, which is exciting
If you’re curious about getting involved in PRSA Colorado, click here to learn more about membership opportunities. You can also reach out to our very own Shannon Mueller, a PRSA Colorado board member, at smueller@linhartpr.com
