AKCG welcomes interns each semester to gain hands-on public relations experience. Our interns work directly to support the AKCG team and our clients in proactive media relations efforts. Take a look at what some of our recent interns had to say about their experience with us.
Name: Griffin Gallagher
School: Rowan University
Year in School: Senior
Three words to describe your internship experience:
- Thought provoking
- Rewarding
- Fun
How did you find out about AKCG?
I found out about the agency two years ago when AKCG team leader Darrah Pilieri visited my Basic PR Writing Class. I continued to hear more about AKCG through PRSSA panels at Rowan and through two of my friends interning with the agency.
After discussing public relations and the firm with another AKCG team member at PRaction’s speed networking event, I became very interested in the opportunity to work for the agency. That opportunity came just two weeks later when I heard about a summer internship opening at AKCG.
Describe your internship experience at AKCG.
Throughout the internship, I was tasked with drafting multiple press releases, media alerts and pitches. These are things I had never written much of outside of a classroom setting. Through AKCG’s constructive criticism and detailed editing process, I became much more familiar with the formatting of these documents and grew more confident in my writing.
Social media played a huge role in my internship as well. I drafted posts for the firm’s social media accounts and joined social media brainstorm sessions. In these sessions, I learned about new tools that help with promoting posts and different ways to engage with an audience via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
I also had the opportunity to join in on client calls. Some of the most informative parts of this internship were the calls I was able to join. They gave me an inside look into the way an agency should interact with clients and journalists, as well as a better understanding of the projects and stories we were working on.
“…great relationships and fun memories with the people you work with makes it truly a great experience.”
What information/experience did you find most rewarding during your time at AKCG?
On my first day at AKCG I had two overwhelming feelings, excitement and nervousness. The feeling of excitement stayed with me throughout the internship, but the feeling of nervousness faded within the first twenty minutes of being at the firm.
I immediately felt like part of the team and built strong relationships with each team member throughout the course of the internship. The team even celebrated my birthday in the office and invited me to their summer outing. In any internship you expect to learn from the people around you, but to also have great relationships and fun memories with the people you work with makes it truly a great experience.
Where do you hope to end up in the future?
My two internships in agencies have taught me that I thrive when working on several different clients, rather than focusing on just one. After graduation, I hope to begin my career in a PR agency in New York, New Jersey or Pennsylvania. The travel and sports industries have always interested me, but the challenge of working in an industry I don’t know as much about also seems intriguing.
What advice would you give to future AKCG interns?
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. When I got my first writing assignment back, it was covered with red markings. Those markings ended up being extremely valuable and helpful for the rest of my writing assignments. With the help of my supervisors, I learned to stop looking at those red marks as failures and start seeing them as ways to develop and improve my writing. With this change of mindset came an improvement in my writing and fewer red marks. This was the most important lesson I learned at AKCG, and one I will take with me throughout my career.
