The PR Internship Debate

Here at onechocolate we believe that interns are a valuable commodity and they should be paid and treated fairly. Most of us have done our fair share of internships and I have to say that mine were an invaluable insight into the industry and helped me realise that PR was the career for me. I was always treated fairly (though not always paid) and since joining this agency I’ve loved our interns –they tell me this is reciprocated. They help us and we try our best to impart our pearls of wisdom whilst letting them experience what it’s like to be in a busy and bustling agency. PR is not always the glamorous ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ world portrayed in some TV sitcoms, and there is a lot of hard work which goes into the smooth running and maintaining momentum of campaigns and brand building. Granted, a lot of an intern’s work will be administrative but, if they show aptitude they are very often allowed more responsibility and help with anything from placing competitions and writing copy to product placement and talking to media. Obviously, interns do have to prove that their ability before being unleashed onto the big wide world of media first.

Sadly, there isn’t always the opportunity to offer interns a permanent job once they’ve finished, but it does help wannabe PR peeps get their foot on the job ladder by giving them experience and a taste of what it’s like. It’s not just that, they also build contacts (I still have some great ones from my time as an intern) and, more often than not, receive lots of help, advice and support for their next move. If you’re an intern reading this, don’t be despondent if you don’t get a permanent job after your first couple of internships, trying out a few different agencies will let you experience different types of PR, whether it’s consumer facing or B2B, and also shows your determination to potential employers (everyone knows now’s a tough time to get a job, anyway).

Whilst there are many fantastic internship programmes out there, what is disturbing is that some companies take advantage of interns, not only financially, but also by treating them poorly. Companies that do not pay their interns, and give them a poor learning experience, really ought to hang their heads in shame. It devalues the valuable contribution that interns can make and is also, potentially, illegal. It’s unfair to expect someone to work for months for free and it also means potential PR stars of the future are being priced out of the market or put off by the few companies that, quite frankly, aren’t behaving as they should. This, to us, is something that should never happen. In fact, we’ve signed the PRCA intern charter which means that we commit to paying our interns at least minimum wage – as we have always done – and we fully support the PR Week campaign launched in October of last year. There are quite a few agencies who have signed the charter and we hope very much that all companies across all industries come together to eradicate this practice.

Toy Fair 2012: The Rapid Growth of the Slow Toy Movement

As I waited impatiently to be let into the biggest trade fair for the Toy industry in the UK, I could barely contain my excitement. Greeted by grand characters such as Raa Raa, Sonic the Hedgehog and Bananas in Pyjamas, I could feel the magic of Toy Fair all around me. With a ‘no kids allowed’ policy, adults were given full reign to release their inner child, playing with the new toys for 2012, with the intention of doing business of course. This annual trade fair, hosted by the British Toy & Hobby Association, is a great opportunity for traders within the Toy Industry to push their new collections for 2012, to network, start conversations, gain distribution and boost sales.

There are many new trends to see at Toy Fair. The one that jumped out to me was the ‘Slow Toy Movement’. A concept which aims to promote ethically sourced toys that leaves much to a child’s imagination. It was great to see classic toys and the more traditional games making a come-back and reinventing themselves and new companies upholding the values of this concept. Toys such as the classic Brio collection of magnetic trains on wooden tracks and Le Toy Van’s new imaginative play-sets and collectables are perfect examples of this movement.

Taking things back to basics raises the importance of children developing at their own pace, learning through traditional play, and pushing children to use their imagination. The toys that we used to play with as children have come back with a bang! As these toys have clear benefits for child development, for adults, these toys bring feelings of nostalgia, fun memories and the sense of innocence we had as a child. Technology does have a role to play, particularly for older children (and Kidults too, of course!), but it is nice to see a balance of offerings for younger children and the optimism within the traditional toy sectors of the market this year.

2012 Digital Trends: Generation Overshare

2011 saw mass sharing in the social media age bringing new meaning to the term ‘information overload’. As Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive of Facebook, said at the f8 developers conference last year “Our development is guided by the principle that every year the amount people want to add, share and express is increasing”.

What Facebook, and brands too, are witnessing is the trend for digitally savvy consumers disassociating themselves from the enjoyment of the moment to record it. You could see this at any live event or concert last year – the masses of people with their phones/cameras held in the air, lighting up the crowds like a sea of stars as they record away for posting on Facebook or YouTube. The trend now and more so in the future, isn’t about going to an event and having an experience but defining yourself by telling and showing others you were there.

2012 will see this trend grow and develop, and experts at Trend Watching.com predict the growing manifestation of Frictionless Sharing this year. Brands like Spotify and The Guardian already benefit from its success, allowing consumers to passively share what they are listening to and reading (via automatically sharing on your Facebook profile). This is said to be taking over from the influence and power of the ‘Like’ button, giving consumers the developing concept of an automatically curated social web.

The prediction for 2012 is for brands to embrace social sharing – pandering to the consumer desire to use content and experience as their wallpaper of daily life and broadcasting it to their network of contacts. Brands know that leveraging this power will be increasing important as the year goes on. We’ll have to stayed tuned to find out if it does.

Thinking Outside the Box

This week, it has been reported that in 1900, an American civil engineer called John Elfreth Watkins made a number of predictions about what the world would be like in 2000. Maybe no big news, except for the fact that the majority of his predictions came true.

Over 100 years ago, John Elfreth Watkins wrote a feature for Ladies’ Home Journal, entitled What May Happen in the Next Hundred Years. The article said: “These prophecies will seem strange, almost impossible”.  And no doubt, at the time, they did.  He accurately predicted digital colour photography, mobile phones and television – all central to our world today.

Take Watkins prediction of mobile phones – this prediction came 15 years before Alexander Bell made the first call, so to predict mobile telephones was truly revolutionary.  It is this sort of revolutionary thinking which makes great people, well – great.  Okay, so Watkins himself didn’t invent the mobile phone, but he had enough foresight and vision to see further than what was right in front of him.

We need only look at Steve Jobs to see what thinking outside of the box can achieve for businesses.  He revolutionised the way we live our lives on a daily basis, simply by looking beyond the black and white.  It’s important for a business to employ hard working, motivated people, but it’s only when those people start to see the bigger picture and think creatively that truly great successes happen.

John Elfreth Watkins was ahead of his time in the way that he thought.  So was Steve Jobs.  The World Future Society says it best: “We invent the future through our actions and change it constantly”.  Nothing is set in stone and with the right people thinking inspired and inventive thoughts, a business’s success will see no bounds.

Social Media: Friend or Foe to the Job Seeker?

From being caught out whilst pulling a ‘sickie’ to posting negative comments about your employer, there has been a plethora of example where social media use has proved to be detrimental to the career prospects of the social media savvy.

According to a recent survey by social media monitoring service Reppler, 90% of recruiters and hiring managers have visited a potential candidate’s profile on a social network as part of the screening process. Whilst many may put this down to natural curiosity, an alarming 69% of recruiters admit rejecting a candidate based on content found on his or her social networking profiles.

However, it’s not all bad news for the next generation of workers, that same survey found an equal proportion of recruiters (68%) have hired a candidate based on his or her presence on those networks.

Profiles on business social networks, such as LinkedIn and Xing for example, have a variety of tools that support the recruitment process from both sides of the table. However, it’s not just these professional sites that appear to be getting people into interview room.

A recent article from Mashable.com showed that approximately 18,400,000 Americans say that they have got their current through Facebook. This is in fact more than both Twitter and LinkedIn combined, with 8 million and 10.2 Americans, respectively, stating they have gotten their jobs through social platforms.

There are also other fantastic examples of the creative use of social media being used to grab the attention of potential employers, from social CVs to entire campaigns.

Whilst social media contains pitfalls for the potential job seeker, and potentially employers as well, it has also allowed people to break the pen and paper CV mould, fostered creativity and opened up global opportunities to the next generation of workers.

Unsure of whether your online persona matches your professional ambitions, check out this article on jobsearch.com for some helpful hints.