PRSSA helps students find internships

Current president is advocate and role model for internship experience

By Mel Imhoff, Senior, Public Relations

Although it is an added bonus at PRSSA's bi-weekly meetings, students are not coming just for the free pizza.

Students attend Public Relations Student Society of America meetings because the organization has become a gateway for obtaining internships all around the country.

Pizza and a job. What more could a college student ask for?

The UT chapter of PRSSA -- named for Alan Scott, a pioneer in public relations education -- is one of the largest and oldest in the country.

As president of the PRSSA for the third consecutive semester, senior Christine Denham is both an advocate and a role model for how this venerable organization can help students network with professionals to get needed internship experience.

In her time at UT, Denham has built up a resume that reads like a who's who of national high-profile companies. She has interned at Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists, Make-A-Wish Foundation, TateAustinHahn and GCI (now Cohn & Wolfe). In addition, Denham spent the summer in New York City interning for Edelman.

"Having internships is the best thing you can do to figure out if the public relations field is right for you," Denham says. "Internships will help you realize which facet of PR fits you best."

PRSSA helps students find internships by setting them up with mentors in the public relations field. These mentors often help students to find internships that will suit them.

Any student who does not find an internship through the mentor program can usually find one from the regular email alerts PRSSA sends to members.

Denham found all of her internships through PRSSA connections and feels that they have helped prepare her for life after graduation.

"I think it is difficult to fully understand what public relations is like unless you have real experience," she says. "I never learned how to deal with the media until I had to for my internships."

For students beginning their journey into the study of public relations, Denham has one piece of advice:

"It is never too early to start networking and finding internships," she says.

Denham plans to move back to New York City after graduation and work for a media services team for a public relations firm.

As for the future of PRSSA, Denham says she is trying to put her own networking skills to work to build more and better relationships between UT students and the public relations community in Austin.

"I would love to see this chapter maintain the high success rate we have had in the past, and continue to grow just as fast as the public relations industry itself," she says.