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| July 2007 Daryl Agran, '08, Excels at the "Intern Challenge" Daryl Agran, ’08, wasn’t kidding when she said securing an internship had been a challenge. Agran, a leadership studies major and rhetoric and communications minor, knew she wanted to find a position in New York City in advertising, marketing, public relations or a related field to fulfill her Jepson internship requirement. A family friend gave her a list of New York’s top 10 public relations firms, and Agran began researching them and submitting applications online. Given that she had no background in public relations, she said she was surprised when she received a call from public relations firm Manning Selvage and Lee inviting her to participate in the “Intern Challenge.” The firm invited the top 30 applicants from a pool of 227 to vie for nine summer internship slots in a daylong competition modeled after Donald Trump’s “Apprentice” reality show. Agran, who wanted to be well prepared for the competition, found the ideal mentor in Jessica Scrimale, ’07. Scrimale had successfully navigated the “Intern Challenge” and landed an internship with Manning Selvage and Lee the year before. “I asked her to tell me everything she remembered,” Agran said. “She really helped me, especially with the PR information.” Agran arrived at Manning Selvage and Lee’s Midtown Manhattan office April 27, primed and determined to do her best. Judges evaluated prospective interns on their performance in the "Intern Challenge," which included a brainstorming session, a pitching exercise for public relations ideas, a current events quiz, a writing and editing quiz and three individual 20-minute interviews. “It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be,” Agran said. “Actually it was more fun than intimidating. It made me realize I really wanted this internship.” And the judges wanted her. At the conclusion of the “Intern Challenge,” Agran was one of nine students chosen for an eight-week summer internship. The internship has proven as fast paced and challenging as the interview process, according to Agran. She works in the firm’s consumer media department where she supports clients such as retailer Best Buy, real estate company Coldwell Banker, Philips Electronics and chocolatier Ferrero Rocher by pitching stories to news media outlets, monitoring news coverage and creating extensive media contact lists for promotional use. Recently Agran and the other interns have been devoting much of their time and energy to their biggest joint summer project: the creation of a 2008 public relations plan for TurboTax. “This project has been challenging in a good way,” Agran said. “How do you make taxes exciting and fun?” Manning Selvage and Lee answered that challenge last year with the creation of a public relations plan that included Vanilla Ice rapping about TurboTax on YouTube. The creativity that drives such public relations plans appeals to Agran. “There is pressure to contribute thoughtful ideas and speak up,” she said. “Although creativity is highly valued, ideas have to be presented crisply.” Most of the students interning at Manning Selvage and Lee this summer are studying public relations in college. Nevertheless, Agran has not felt disadvantaged with her liberal arts education. “My University of Richmond education has given me the time management skills, organizational skills and people skills to succeed,” she said. “The logistics of the job I’ve learned here [at Manning Selvage and Lee].” “I have really enjoyed learning about this business, being a part of a company and doing real, legitimate, important work,” Agran said about her internship experience. “My work really matters to the company and to the people around me. Public relations work is definitely something I’ll want to pursue after graduation.” Likewise, Manning Selvage and Lee management praised the performance of both their Jepson interns—Agran and Scrimale before her. When internship faculty advisor Teresa Williams met with company recruiter Kristin Daversa July 17 to discuss Agran’s progress, Daversa asked Williams to encourage other Jepson students to apply for internships with the firm, Williams said. Clearly, Jepson’s best possible public relations plan lies in the quality of its students and graduates. |
