Rachel Assink here, LCI’s new intern.
This is the start of my third week at LCI and what a few weeks it has been! It’s my first foray into public relations and I must say, I find it to be very interesting and exciting work. One aspect I find incredibly interesting is that, just as the news changes rapidly, so does the scope of our everyday work. As a result, the office is constantly abuzz and moving at a rapid pace. Never a dull moment!
I love that LCI has several non-profit clients such as the California Academy of Sciences and NatureBridge. I volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center, a non-profit dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of sick and injured marine mammals. Through this volunteer experience, I have learned just how important non-profits are. At LCI, we are able to showcase these organizations and the work they do for the public via the media.
So, to complete my first ever blog post, I thought I would share a few things I’ve learned in my first weeks here — skills which have been useful to me in my time here and will serve me well in the future.
- Prioritizing — prioritizing your work is probably one of the most important things you can do. Know what projects have to be done by tomorrow, next week, etc. Stick to your deadlines. Thankfully, I had some practice prioritizing all my activities in high school: playing multiple sports at once as well as two instruments and keeping up with schoolwork. I find making lists for each work day to be very helpful in planning out my day.
- Note-taking — note-taking is a skill needed for almost any job that exists. And I mean real note-taking here, not the copy-these-exact-words-off-the-power point note-taking they make you do in school. In fact, I just finished taking notes for a Konika Minolta copier training we took part in this week. The skill of writing down one thing while listening to another is a very important one to have! I know that come fall, my work at LCI will have primed me for the next four years of college. I’ll be a note-taking, news-paper reading, deadline-meeting expert!
Rachel – you are a quick study! Yes, priortizing is one of the best skills that you can learn in any profession, but that especially holds true in PR, doubly true in a fast-paced environment like Landis.
Glad to have your on board this summer!
Rachel – you are so right. Organization and prioritization are the keys to success – in the work world and in life. Congratulations that you learned this important lesson early on! Cheers, David
Rachel — you’ll go far with those skills. Keep up the great work!
It’s been a pleasure having you as part of the Landis team, Rachel. You’ll do great things with that positive attitude of yours and hard work ethic. Congrats!
Hi Rachel – amazing job on the blog, and, on all your work!
Rachel, This is a great post. Building PR skills will serve you well no matter what you decide to do. Ultimately, the practice of public relations centers around building persuasive messages and understanding your audience/target market. Whether that target market is a professor or your sorority colleagues, you’ll find that being able to clearly articulate what you want to say in the right time frame and on the right deadline will be a huge asset. In your next job, you’ll notice that the skills you picked up at LCI will help you anticipate what your boss needs to do his/her job, organize your work to support the whole organization,and be flexible enough and aware enough to shift gears at a moment’s notice. I should know — because I learned these exact things from the best of the best — David Landis himself!
Rachel,
How great that you are working in the industry! You’ve provided a couple of great fundamental tips…keep them coming! Love your text formatting for points #1 and #2…shows real initiative!