– Renuka Pujari

College gave me the theory: communication models, media ethics, and the difference between a press release and a press kit. I could define “earned media” in an exam answer and get full marks.

Then I walked into my first PR internship at Nucleus Public Relations, and within a week, I realized nobody was going to ask me to define anything. They were going to ask me to find a journalist’s profile, convince an influencer to post on time, and treat a single media mention as if the office had just won the World Cup.

This is the curriculum nobody hands you on orientation day. I learned it on the job

1. “Media Tracking” is Not a Google Search. It’s a Treasure Hunt

Nobody tells you that tracking coverage sometimes means physically flipping through newspapers at 10 a.m. Digital monitoring tools exist, sure. But there’s a very specific, slightly unhinged joy in spotting your client’s name tucked away on page 7 before any tracking software even catches it. Add to that I would not know who else reported what and where, what could have been a possibility and come across an opinion piece that made things crystal clear for me on an industry, if I was just looking at the tracked stories landing in my inbox.

P.S: Another thing I cannot get over is the ‘habit’ of reading and why it is important. But that’s a story for another day.

2. A Media List Isn’t a Spreadsheet. It’s a Relationship Map

I assumed media lists were just names and email IDs in neat rows. Wrong. A real media list remembers beats, cities, deadlines, pet peeves, and whether a journalist prefers a two-line email or genuinely hates being called on a Friday afternoon. Who prefers to be texted on whatsapp, who insists on an email and who will absolutely blacklist you if you reach out to them on their personal Instagram handle. You’re not maintaining contacts, but you’re also maintaining trust. 

P.S: Most contact numbers came with a strict instruction manual !

3. AI Became the Colleague No One Told Me I’d Need 

In college, the challenge was finding the right answer. In PR, the challenge is asking the right question.

AI can brainstorm headlines, draft media pitches, summarize reports, and spark campaign ideas in seconds. But the quality of what you get depends entirely on what you ask. The better the prompt, the better the outcome. Turns out, one of the most valuable workplace skills isn’t memorizing information. It’s learning how to communicate with machines without forgetting how to communicate with people.

It’s a balancing act. One that we will all have to learn if we are to thrive in the industry for the next 5 years.

4. Campaigns End. Relationships Don’t

Clients rotate. Briefs change. Coverage fades within a news cycle. But the journalist who remembers you were kind to them two years ago? That relationship outlasts every campaign you’ll ever run. One honest, non-transactional conversation does more than a hundred templated cold emails ever will. Networking isn’t a “soft skill” in PR, but it’s the actual job description. 

I was amazed at how each of the pros I worked with pulled out literal nuggets outta that hat to course correct an almost derailed campaign !

5. Influencer Management Deserves Its Own Semester

College taught me to analyse influencer events by listing their pros and cons, discussing potential crises, and preparing for everything that could go wrong.

My first influencer event taught me something else.

Yes, there were WhatsApp messages flying in, guest arrivals to coordinate, approvals to chase, and last-minute changes to handle. But there was also an energy to it all. Watching weeks of planning come to life, seeing creators genuinely enjoy the experience, and witnessing a campaign unfold in real time made every bit of the organised chaos worth it. 

This was one of the most basic tasks handed over to me and I could not believe it required so much skill and nuance to put the right list together for a brand.

6. Small Talk Becomes an Actual Professional Skill

Group discussions in college prep you to speak in front of a room and impress the decision makers. Internships prep you to walk up to a stranger at an event, introduce yourself, exchange numbers, and somehow continue that conversation months later like you never lost touch. Small talk stops being awkward filler and eventually becomes a strategi move you can deploy when needed.

And the loud and bold declarations in GDs don’t impress much here.

7. You Turn Into Sherlock Holmes, Minus the Pipe, Plus Wi-Fi 

Need a journalist who covers semiconductors out of Bengaluru? A micro-influencer with exactly the right engagement rate? A founder’s obscure 2021 podcast appearance? Hand a PR professional a laptop and decent Wi-Fi, and give it twenty minutes. We’ll find it, and probably three things you didn’t ask for but definitely need. 

Or maybe 10 mins is enough !

8. One A+, and Suddenly It’s a National Holiday 

Remember the feeling of seeing your assignment marked “A” in a semester ? That’s exactly how it feels when everything comes together – the campaign goes live, the journalist gets the story angle right, the influencer outreach rolled out just as you want it, the brand teams worked in sync with you.  The joy of seeing it all come together…priceless.

Except instead of waiting for the next semester, you’re already working on the next story before you’ve even finished celebrating the last one.

9. Agile PR Brains Deserve to be Mentioned as a Separate Entity on the Team 

One day, it’s luxury watches. The next craft beer. Then, space technology, climate control , GCCs, healthcare policy, semiconductors, F&B trends, or a government notification nobody outside the three ministries has read yet. PR forces you to become a fast, functional expert in absolutely everything, for exactly as long as the brief requires it. 

Phewh !

10. Communication Is 20% Writing, 80% Following Up 

College taught me how to write emails.

The PR industry taught me what happens after you send one.

“Just checking in” , “Gentle reminder” or “Following up on the below” and all the variations of these don’t work in isolation. Watching my colleagues, I’ve realised that half the job is knowing when to follow up, and the other half is knowing how to do it without sounding like a broken record.

What I Actually Walked Away With

College prepared me for presentations.

PR prepared me for unpredictability.

Well, If universities ever decide to update the syllabus, I have a few recommendations.

Module 1: AI for PR. Not “Will AI replace us?” but “How can we use AI to work smarter without losing the human touch?”

Module 2: Newspaper Reading 101. How to scan publications, identify newsworthy stories, track coverage, and understand why print media still matters. Or just teach us ‘ Why reading matters’

Module 3: Excel Sheets You Didn’t Know You’d Love.

Now, excuse me while I update the media list for the fourth time today with deets of a brilliant journalist I spotted.

About Nucleus PR

The 16-year old firm has clients across multiple verticals. With an already established presence in 4 major metros, they have successfully created a strong affiliate network across 88 towns across the country via a team of trusted professional experts. With its inclusion in the exclusive and prestigious worldwide collaborative network of PR firms – PRBI Boutiques International, it adds brilliant minds from over 40 agencies across 14 countries to their resource pool. As the first members from the Asian sub-continent, they represent the entire region in the prestigious international PR network. Their current portfolio includes entertainment, lifestyle, media, hospitality and corporate clients across MNCs, SMEs, and Startups.