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I’ve been working as an intern for Germinder & Associates, Inc.​ for a couple months now. Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a better internship opportunity! For that matter, I’d like to take this time out to sincerely thank Lea-Ann Germinder​ for pouring her years of agency knowledge and experience into me and helping to prepare me for a career (not just a job) in public relations.

Many of us face the challenge of finding our dream career paths after college for a couple of reasons. I’ll discuss the two I find most important:

1.Lack of “EXPERIENCE!!!”
I experienced a situation where I gained the attention of a major (I’m talking MAJOR!!!!!) global public relations firm and subsequently was called in for a couple interviews. After going through the interview process and doing my due diligence of following up with thank you emails and so on, the final verdict came — of course my heart was beating out of my chest while I was reading the email — I didn’t get the job.

I was curious why I didn’t get my dream position straight out of college, so I asked the recruiters how I could improve my skill set for future opportunities. They said it was important that I gain more agency experience. We’ve all faced this battle. “How am I to get experience if no one is willing to take a chance by giving me the opportunity?!” An issue much too complex to address in this blog post, but one that is extremely important to note.

2. DRIVE!!!
I thought I knew what it took to work in public relations, but to be honest, I wasn’t as prepared as I believed. Working with Lea-Ann for the past 6 months revealed that to me. Don’t get me wrong, I had all the right credentials — my degree, verbal and written communication skills, connected contacts, PR volunteer experience and so on — but working in an agency, no matter the industry, does make a difference. I know it will continue to make a difference for years to come! It improved my DRIVE. So again I am extremely thankful to Lea-Ann, and the Germinder team for taking me under their wing and pushing me to further hone my potential as a public relations professional.

Part of my internship included the opportunity to work in real world situations and on important client initiatives. Below you can view my first professional interview with none other than David Frei (The Mayor of Dogs) from the Westminster Kennel Club. Westminster is the second longest continuously held sporting event in the United States, only behind the Kentucky Derby!