The Story Behind a Three-Week Internship at DNPR, with Jenna Johnston

Over Easter, our small and vibrant agency opened its doors to Jenna Johnston, a second year Media & Communication student at Bournemouth University. Jenna’s desire to experience the realities of working in a PR agency led her to us. After an initial interview with Darren, Jenna stepped into our office with curiosity and excitement ready for her three-week career taster. Following Jenna’s experience, we asked her a few questions about her time.

Why did you do your work experience at DNPR?

As part of the Media & Communication course at BU, we are asked to undergo a short industry placement to experience the realities of a busy working environment before we go into our final year of studies. After doing some research on Dorset’s leading PR & Communications agencies, I discovered DNPR which has an excellent local reputation. The more I read about their current projects, the more I wanted to do my internship with them!

How were your first days in the agency?

I started the internship with a slight fear that my day to day tasks would consist of making teas and coffees or picking up lunch, as a number of my friends did in their placements. However, that was not the case. In my first few days I was given a number of tasks to familiarise myself with DNPR’s work and its clients. I soon discovered that the life of a PR practitioner was nothing like Samantha Jones’ (Sex and the City character) luxurious lifestyle. It’s actually all about hard work, devotion and attention to detail.

What tasks were you assigned?

Some of the tasks I was given were writing press releases, blogs, research pieces, developing creative ideas for clients and managing varied social media platforms. A great mix in my opinion as I got to develop a wide variety of skills such as creative writing, social media management and strategic communications. I am confident that I will use everything I have learnt in my future career!

What was your favourite thing about the internship?

I found it very interesting how busy everyone always is. There certainly isn’t a dull moment in the DNPR office! I enjoyed the creativity behind the writing and pitching ideas to clients. The overall experience was fantastic, and I learned so much… I want to thank the whole DNPR team for having me and helping me develop practical PR skills, especially Dan, who has coordinated my workload and efficiently managed my experience.

Dan Cutler, Account Manager at DNPR said:

“We really enjoyed having Jenna with us during her three weeks internship. We gave her insights into the challenging, yet exciting world of public relations and we hope her newly gained knowledge will help her in the future.”