When should I start getting involved with internships?

Hi there! I would recommend getting an internship the summer of your Junior year - it is a great way to start building your resume and to get a good understanding of what it 'really looks like' to be a public relations professional. Every experience you have in a professional setting helps to hone in on what you do like, what you need to grow your skill set in, and also may tell you if you definitely do not like a certain aspect - all super helpful things to know as you begin to think about the job search post college!

Get started as soon as you can. Your goal should be to build enough experience to:

• start to learn what you like and don't like in your field
• get a sense of what corporate and/or agency culture is like
• be able to demonstrate that your have practical work experience vs. only academic
• be as competitive as possible when applying for positions

There are good responses to your question and one that is key in my mind is, networking. Make sure you have your digital persona really strong. This includes LinkedIn at a minimum and if you use other social platforms, think about what you use them for and if they would be a benefit or detriment. HR and hiring managers will search for you socially as part of their due diligence.

If you get an internship, make sure you connect with as many people in the organization and start a digital relationship. Those folks can be very helpful in networking and referrals. Remember to be humble and greatly appreciative when networking.

Good luck in PR and your journey.

Get involved as soon as possible. The internships I did in college, starting sophomore year, were hugely important in terms of figuring out what I wanted to do, building out my resume to be more competitive when I graduated, and for building important connections that can help provide recommendations for future jobs / build your professional network in general. Don't wait, even if it's a small/short internship just to get you started in the "real world" :)