I can’t believe it’s been three months since I became a Hoffmanite. Sarah from the beginning of summer wouldn’t believe all that I have learned.
I entered my internship hungry for knowledge. From pitch writing and abstract drafting to media research and crafting the perfect agenda, I have grown exponentially in my PR hard skills.
As wonderful as that is, one piece of advice I would offer: don’t knock the soft skills.
At the beginning of this internship, I thought all my focus should go toward the practical things, like how to identify the right targets to pitch. While these are important, other skills like communication, prioritization and positively internalizing feedback are essential for growth.
Overcommunication, while maybe tedious at first, is a soft skill that pays off tenfold.
As one of my account directors told me in my first week, it is always better to overcommunicate than under communicate. This is an evergreen piece of wisdom.
When you’re just learning the ropes, explaining your thought process on tasks can help your team when they review your work. This way, they can tailor their feedback, making it easier for you to thrive.
As you gain more experience and start taking on more responsibilities across accounts, communicating your bandwidth becomes more essential. This facilitates efficiency across accounts, ensuring that you don’t bite off more than you can chew.
Likewise, prioritization is the secret to time management.
At the beginning of this internship, I thought everything was a priority, but I quickly learned the importance of prioritization.
When urgent asks would come up across my accounts, I didn’t know how to volunteer for them while still doing everything else. This is where prioritization comes in.
As you go about this internship, you will learn that some things are time-sensitive and all hands on deck, while others are more flexible. Managing your time between what is and isn’t urgent is an important skill to hone, as the goal is to make sure your accounts run smoothly. Learning what to prioritize fosters this type of environment.
And finally, if I can offer a tip: change your mindset on feedback.
Perhaps the most important soft skill of all is positively internalizing feedback.
No matter how many years of PR experience you have, feedback is an integral part of The Hoffman Agency.
In an environment as fast paced as this one, learning from critiques and quickly course correcting is invaluable. It is important to remember that feedback is not something negative — it is an opportunity to get better and thrive. Not only that, but by doing better, you are helping the team improve.
As I look back on these three months, I am exceedingly proud of how far I’ve come during this internship era of soft skill improvement.
