By Kelly Hayes
I never thought I would have a political internship but when the opportunity arose to be a PR intern for the Irish parliament I just couldn’t turn it down.
Now, after six weeks of being here I can honestly say being a PR political intern is one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. My day is never the same. Although the work is similar, I haven’t been working on one project all summer; I’ve been working on many.
Here is what my internship life looks like on a day-to-day basis:
7:30 a.m. Wake up, get dressed and eat breakfast
8:40 a.m. Leave apartment to grab a coffee and get to the bus stop by 9:00
9:30-9:45 a.m. In the office and ready to go!
5:00-6:00 p.m. Head home for the day
In the mornings I do all the work that has to be done before I eat my lunch around 12:30. These things usually consist of answering emails, letters, calls and putting in parliamentary questions. My boss is only in his Dublin office Tuesday thru Thursday so my Mondays and Fridays are more directed towards projects and miscellaneous assignments.
In the afternoons I usually write press releases and put in more parliamentary questions. Once we receive responses to the PQs, as we call them, I organize to whom they are sent. Sometimes I send PQs to more than a hundred people on mailing lists, and sometimes to just one specific person. This may seem boring and tedious but my overall goal for the summer is to increase media recognition. These are just the daily tasks. Every now and then I have to write a parliamentary speech, which can be scary at first but as a Scripps student I can handle anything when it comes to writing.
The thing about PR and politics is that there is always a deadline and these deadlines are shorter than most. You have to act quickly. I have two work sections – immediate, need to get this done now work and downtime work.
Because I’m approaching my last two weeks of my internship my main goal now is final recommendations. My boss fully trusts my professional opinion and told me he wishes I could stay longer. I have observed his PR strategies for six weeks and now I feel confident in giving him my professional advice on social media, press releases, press statements, dealing with the press and his overall brand image.
All that’s left to do is create the PR plan and recommendations including social media, press releases and brand image. I also have to finish editing his newsletter and leave tips and tricks for the next intern. Wish me luck!