What does a public relations internship do?
A public relations intern is responsible for assisting the public relations department in creating content to engage customers and prospective clients in availing of the goods and services of the company. Public relations interns participate in meetings to suggest strategies and observe areas of improvement. They also perform administrative duties as needed, post social media updates, review press releases, and research market trends. A public relations intern must be detail-oriented and communicative to assist customers with their concerns and inquiries.
Public relations internship responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real public relations internship resumes:
- Manage relationship with vendors, media partners, secure coverage, track ROI and event logistics.
- Manage CEO's LinkedIn account by consistently posting in relevant groups and connecting with prominent industry people.
- Manage and write copy for client social media platforms and ECPR's social media deliverable, which involve SEO streamlining.
- Manage all copywriting elements for live broadcasts and promotional commercials.
- Assist in defining the best use of social media for the club including Facebook, twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
- Create and distribute press releases, pitch letters, news articles, community biographies, and other various content pieces.
- Put together client biographies, EPK's, press releases and pitch letters to be send out to relevant media outlets.
- Engage with Facebook and Instagram to create social media highlights for participating brands and contacts.
- Assist in writing press releases, creating PowerPoint presentations for teleconferences and public speaking engagements.
- Create and design department's alumni newsletter.
- Design digital artwork for t-shirts and posters.
- Design and distribute t-shirts for fraternal events.
- Establish contact with THON child's family.
- Use of scheduling applications like hootsuite and twitter ads.
- Promote functions and giveaways from multiple companies in the Philadelphia area.
Public relations internship skills and personality traits
We calculated that 30% of Public Relations Interns are proficient in Press Releases, Facebook, and Twitter. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Organizational skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Public Relations Interns that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Press Releases, 30%
Support daily public affairs operations including university website management, press releases, university articles, and overall university news.
- Facebook, 5%
Developed all social media content Created strategy and measured key performance indicators on Facebook
- Twitter, 5%
Utilized multimedia tools such as Twitter and Facebook for strategic communication.
- Press Clippings, 4%
Collected press clippings, researched credits online and updated editorial coverage reports.
- Instagram, 4%
Researched and contacted companies in California that need PR assistance, managed an Instagram account for a client with over 30k followers
- Event Planning, 4%
Assisted the Communications Director in operation of social media, event planning, volunteer coordinating, and organization of community outreach
Most public relations interns use their skills in "press releases," "facebook," and "twitter" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential public relations internship responsibilities here:
Interpersonal skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a public relations internship to have is interpersonal skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "public relations specialists deal with the public and the media regularly." Public relations interns often use interpersonal skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "partnered with the event planning class to increase student involvement by creating strong interpersonal relationships. "
Organizational skills. Many public relations internship duties rely on organizational skills. "public relations specialists are often in charge of managing several events or communications at the same time, which requires excellent skills in coordinating arrangements.," so a public relations internship will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways public relations internship responsibilities rely on organizational skills: "drafted press releases and feature stories regarding each subject for feature in organizational publication and website. "
Problem-solving skills. public relations interns are also known for problem-solving skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to public relations internship responsibilities, because "public relations specialists sometimes must explain how a company or client is handling sensitive issues." A public relations internship resume example shows how problem-solving skills is used in the workplace: "launched facebook, twitter, and flickr social media pages for urban media solutions. "
Speaking skills. A big part of what public relations interns do relies on "speaking skills." You can see how essential it is to public relations internship responsibilities because "public relations specialists regularly speak on behalf of clients or their organization." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical public relations internship tasks: "contributed original content for facebook, pinterest and blog - analyzed and presented membership satisfaction survey results"
Writing skills. Another crucial skill for a public relations internship to carry out their responsibilities is "writing skills." A big part of what public relations interns relies on this skill, since "public relations specialists must be able to write well-organized and clear press releases, speeches, and social media posts." How this skill relates to public relations internship duties can be seen in an example from a public relations internship resume snippet: "collaborate in executing successful media relations efforts including building media lists, writing coverage reports, and creating briefing documents. "
The three companies that hire the most public relations internships are:
- FleishmanHillard19 public relations interns jobs
- Highwire PR5 public relations interns jobs
- Spark Foundry4 public relations interns jobs
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Compare different public relations interns
Public relations internship vs. Media coordinator
A media coordinator acts as a communications professional in charge of developing and implementing target communications and advertising for various media platforms. Media coordinators plan, implement, and monitor the social media strategy of an organization. They discern the most successful media outreach and establish advertising partnerships and business deals. They aim to increase their respective companies' brand awareness, strengthen their advertising campaigns, improve their marketing strategies, and increase their sales.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between public relations interns and media coordinator. For instance, public relations internship responsibilities require skills such as "press clippings," "press materials," "fact sheets," and "news stories." Whereas a media coordinator is skilled in "digital marketing," "social media marketing," "social platforms," and "video content." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Media coordinators tend to make the most money working in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $48,229. In contrast, public relations interns make the biggest average salary, $32,969, in the non profits industry.On average, media coordinators reach similar levels of education than public relations interns. Media coordinators are 1.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Public relations internship vs. Publicist
Public Relations Supervisors are responsible for implementing the media and public relations strategy of an organization. Their duties include developing public relations campaigns, organize public relations events, assist in emergency response planning, updating documentation, monitoring media, improve management of press office, and manage media databases. They are responsible for assisting with journalistic content writing, refine internal processes, and track public relations activity performance. They help prepare reports as well as undertake competitor and market research.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, public relations internship responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "facebook," "press kits," "news stories," and "editorial calendar." Meanwhile, a publicist has duties that require skills in areas such as "publicity materials," "fiction," "trade shows," and "press junkets." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Publicists may earn a higher salary than public relations interns, but publicists earn the most pay in the media industry with an average salary of $52,774. On the other hand, public relations interns receive higher pay in the non profits industry, where they earn an average salary of $32,969.publicists earn similar levels of education than public relations interns in general. They're 2.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for public relations internships in the next 3-5 years?
Stefanie Leiter
Assistant Professor of Public Relations, Anderson University
Public relations internship vs. Marketing and event planning internship
A marketing and event planning intern is responsible for supporting the operations of a company's marketing department, performing administrative duties under the guidance of a direct supervisor or tenured marketing staff. Marketing and event planning interns shadow all the processes of marketing operations, assisting with events management procedures, and suggesting strategic solutions to boost the company's brand image to the public. They also analyze the current market trends, identifying business opportunities to negotiate with more clients by meeting consumer demands and needs, bringing revenues, and increasing the company's profitability.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a public relations internship is likely to be skilled in "press clippings," "press materials," "fact sheets," and "news stories," while a typical marketing and event planning internship is skilled in "event logistics," "events intern," "event management," and "corporate events."
Marketing and event planning interns typically earn similar educational levels compared to public relations interns. Specifically, they're 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Public relations internship vs. Photography internship
Photography internship is an advantage to interns who assist photographers while studying since it can develop creativity, strong networking, technical, and practical skills as they learn both lighting and photography business in a real photography studio. These interns are tasked to perform research, update social media platforms, and create images for social media posts. Such valuable hands-on experience serves as an entry-level to boost confidence, increase motivation, gain references, and qualify them for a permanent job offer.
Types of public relations internship
Updated January 8, 2025
