I remember when I first interviewed to be DJA’s public relations / social media intern. I was so nervous knowing that this could potentially be not only my very first PR and social media internship opportunity, but also my first journey into the realm of high technology. When I was notified a couple days later that I received the position, I was excited and ready to experience what it’s like to work for a communications agency that specialized in serving B2B technology companies.
Over the course of my internship, I learned so much about the internal dynamics of how a communications agency works. I was challenged with projects that I had no prior experience or familiarity with and learned about DJA’s variety of high tech clients and their technologies, many of which I had never heard of before. I would guess the learning curve would make any intern for any company a bit confused – and I was!
Now looking back on how far I’ve come with broadening my knowledge in PR, marketing, and social media, I’m glad that I didn’t always know what to do. It was because of my inexperience and unfamiliarity with PR and high tech that prompted me to ask questions, and listen. All of that gave me the skills I needed to complete projects that I once didn’t know how to do. I was constantly doing my own research about our clients so that I knew exactly who they were and what they did to help be better understand what they wanted. It seemed like the more challenges I was confronted with, the more opportunity I was given to grow.
I would have to say that interning at The David James Agency has been one of my more memorable career-related experiences. I found out the importance of embracing challenges, accepting criticism and learning from my mistakes. I feel much more confident in finding out what I really want to do in life, all thanks to DJA.
Lynn Clahassey interned this summer at DJA and is a recent graduate of California Lutheran University.