I got my start in the working world the way many people do — by getting a hand up from someone older and wiser.  In my case, it was my friend Amy’s mom, Valerie.  I was fresh out of college and unlike most of the other moms I knew, Valerie was a professional woman.  She was smart, funny and always dressed to kill, usually in a navy blue suit.  I wanted to be like her.  So with her help, I did what she did.  PR.  She helped me get an internship at a PR agency and I never looked back (well, I did once, but that’s a story for another time.) 

Valerie left us far too soon in life, and I often wish she could see what she sparked.  Here I am, a quarter century later, still practicing the PR trade, albeit sans the navy blue suit.  And I’m practicing something else that she instilled in me, no doubt unconsciously.  That is, the importance of giving back to your chosen profession and lending someone else a helping hand up the ladder.  I have the perfect opportunity to do that at Eastwick with our intern program.  What started as a summer-only program a few years back has blossomed into a year-round program for college students and recent grads.  They’ve come from all over, with different levels of experience.  But the common thread is they all have more than a passing interest in communications.  Most have been incredibly passionate, especially those who have graduated and already have a laser-focus on PR as their career of choice. 

We get a lot of value from our interns.  They work hard, often at tasks that aren’t exactly the most exciting.  Sometimes it’s downright tedious (I mean, how many briefing books can you put together while remaining enthusiastic?)  But they also get a lot back in return.  For the time they’re with us, we bring them right into the fold and treat them like members of the Eastwick family.  They are part and parcel of whatever goes on here — from crazy client deadlines to pranks on our neighbors at Google.  It’s fun to see the interns have what for many is their first “real” job experience.  Some decide PR is not for them (like my stepdaughter, who after a summer at Eastwick declared she’d never work in an office again) but all of them seem to learn something and have fun at the same time.  And for a few of them, Eastwick becomes a long-term home. 

We’re lucky enough to have several of those right now.  Lindsey, Marissa Kevin, Rachel and Rachael — former interns, turned account coordinators and beyond.  They are amazing and we’re lucky to have them.  They remind me how fun it was to start out in this business.  I didn’t know a thing but I learned fast and had a blast doing it.  Difference is, they know a lot more than I did starting out.  They’ll probably go farther, too, and I’ll enjoy watching them from the sidelines.  So if you know a college student or grad who wants to try his or her hand at PR, send them our way.  We’ll do our best to lend them a hand up.

interns, PR, PR Careers, Recruiting