Recruitment Message:
Interested in obtaining hands-on experience with public relations that will convince employers that you’re the best candidate for the job? Looking for first-hand knowledge of how to work with employees of a large organization to get their messages heard? Need a portfolio of smart-looking, professional press releases that you’ve researched and written?
Boat People SOS is a nonprofit, community-based organization with 28 years of service to Vietnamese-American refugees and immigrants. With 14 branches around the US, it presents a great opportunity to learn the nuts-and-bolts of public relations from the local to national levels.Besides the career development opportunity, this internship represents a chance to make a difference on issues you care about, ranging from domestic violence to human trafficking, women’s health to community development, mental health to senior services.
To carry out this mission, BPSOS seeks a public relations intern to support the public relations and communications manager within the department of the executive director.
Goals:Your work on public relations will help raise awareness of opportunities available to members of economically vulnerable and easily isolated immigrant communities, so that they gain access to the services they need to survive and prosper.
You will be involved in the nuts-and-bolts of PR work by coordinating with the 14 BPSOS branch offices to write and distribute press releases that communicate with communities about the services that BPSOS and other key agencies provide.
The intern’s duties in relation to the PR manager and BPSOS will include the following:
1) Working with branch offices to get information for media advisories/press releases
2) Drafting media advisories/press releases
3) Obtaining and scrubbing distribution lists
4) Identifying key media targets
5) Sending out media advisories via email
6) Following up with key media targets to pitch stories
7) Collecting quotes from people who take part in BPSOS events
8) Writing draft articles to pitch for placement in the media
Prior hands-on experience with public relations desirable, but not required. More important are good communications skills (written and spoken), an outgoing and easygoing manner, and good organizational skills. Abilities in written and spoken Vietnamese a plus, but not essential.
Students, grad students, recent grads, and those with greater or lesser workforce experience are encouraged to apply.
Time commitment:
From part-time (4-20 hours per week) to full-time (40 hours per week), for between three and six months, depending on the availability and interest of the intern.
Location:
With enough preparation, many responsibilities could be fulfilled from home or campus. However, the intern must commit to meeting at least once a week, for up to two hours, with the PR manager at the BPSOS office in order to discuss priorities, go over work, and receive training. Because PR is a fast-moving field, the intern must also be available at other times (within reason) by phone and email in order to receive fine-tuned supervision.
Additional info:
This is an unpaid internship. What the intern gets out of working with BPSOS will depend on their eagerness to learn and willingness to invest their energy.
In return for the intern’s commitment and follow-through, the PR manager commits to training them so that they master the following skills over a 3-6 month period:
1) How to collect all the indispensable elements of a media advisory/press release
2) How to collect quotes and properly attribute them
3) How to write professional-looking media advisories/press releases
4) How to write draft articles for media outlets to “plug in” to their pages
5) How to identify key media targets
6) How to compile and manage distribution lists
7) How to follow up with the media in a professional manner
8) How to coordinate PR activities within a large, multi-cultural, multi-branch organization
Besides acquiring the career-building skills listed above, the intern should leave the program with a portfolio of professional-looking press releases and advice on how to present these new skills in a resume to attract employer interest.
BPSOS will provide gas reimbursement for trips to the office.
Summer Internships are closed; please contact us ASAP regarding fall and winter 2008 internships.
To apply:
All interested applicants should mail a brief cover letter and resume to:
Boat People, SOS Inc
Jon Pattee
Manager, Public Relations and Communications
6066 Leesburg Pike, Suite 100
Falls Church, VA 22041
703-538-2190
703-538-2191 (fax)
Or by e-mail to jon.pattee@bpsos.org [1] with Public Relations Internship Application in the subject line.