Our latest Intelligent Intern, Morgan, had some pretty big shoes to fill when she came on board. But she’s proven to be more than up to the task, bringing brilliant energy to the team. We asked Morgan to tell us a little about her time here – so if you’ve ever wanted to know what life as a PR intern is like, read on…

From one terrifying leap to the next:
what it’s like to be a PR intern with the world at her feet

Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but once university finally released its clammy grasp on me and flung me out here into the real world, my biggest concern was that I had no idea how anything worked. I saw all these people successfully adulting in their day-to-day lives, and I still had no idea how to work the heat pump at home, let alone find a career.

I’d love to tell you that over the past 3 months I have blossomed into a fully functioning adult, who not only can work a heat pump like it’s her job, but also has the next 30 years planned out. These gaps in my knowledge weren’t quite covered during my time as an intern – but I’m confident that had I asked, the girls at Intelligent Ink would have done their best to help me.

It’s this sheer terror that I felt 3 months ago, that has driven me to focus this blog post on helping those who come next. The future interns, graduates, and trembling arts students. The people who need advice, reassurance and insight into what it is like to have one foot in the real world.

If I could go back 3 months, to scared, little, recently graduated me, I would firstly, tell her that in the scheme of things, working the heat pump isn’t actually a priority, but also that she shouldn’t place too many expectations on what being a PR intern is like.

For instance, you won’t go on as many coffee runs as you think you will.

You’ll actually get to use your film degree – take that, year 11 maths teacher!!

You’ll need to stop speaking superfluously (ok, I’m still working on that one).

But this advice, while hugely relevant to me, is probably of no use to you, the reader behind this document I am currently writing. And by now I know that the audience, the mysterious, grey, blobby crowd out there in cyberspace, are who I really should be thinking of. Your needs are now my needs.

So for you, my eager, faceless reader, I will try to tell you what it is like to be an Intelligent Ink intern, without making it a bullet-pointed autobiography.

To be an intern at Intelligent Ink, means constantly broadening your media horizons. Don’t spend your free time only reading Deadpool reviews – you need to bring variety into your reading material, or you will never progress as a writer yourself. Even if that means reading business articles that your liberal arts mind struggles to comprehend.

Never take constructive criticism too personally, and store the positive feedback away for days when you feel like things are getting tough. Sometimes, when you’re surrounded by the genius minds at Intelligent Ink, it can feel like you’re not progressing fast enough – but that’s only if you don’t make an effort to remember the praise you’ve received. It is so important to take criticism as it is, and put it to use in future work, but when someone tells you that you’ve nailed a piece of work, store that away somewhere too! It will make your whole journey a lot more rewarding.

Don’t ever put your hand up to make a stop-motion video again. Just don’t.

You can never be too PC. Yes, you heard me.

I’ve often been afraid of sounding too PC – I’m a bleeding heart liberal with a politics and film degree – but since working in PR I’ve discovered that I still need to improve how I word my sentences. In your head you may know your intent, but your reader does not.

Don’t buy cookies every time you go to Countdown to get office supplies (I say, as I munch away at a whole bag.)

Never, ever stop learning until you are 65, retired, and on a beach somewhere with a mojito in hand. And even then, maybe you’ll finally find time to learn how to knit.

I’ll leave you there, my dear reader, before this turns into the soppy, retrospective blog post I fear it might become if I give myself the chance. I know I’ve discovered a true passion of mine, and a group of incredibly friendly and talented ladies – but none of this should come as a surprise to you if you’ve read any Intelligent Ink blog posts before.

Hopefully, this blog post has been of some use to at least one person out there, even if it is just the Intelligent Ink intern to come after me. With my infinite wisdom, as a 21-year-old who has just completed a PR internship, all I can tell you is that with all of the above considered, adulthood never stops being terrifying, so try to find something you love doing, grab some popcorn (or Countdown cookies!), and try your best to keep up with the action.