I am a brilliant final-year PR student at University of Johannesburg, with a relatively impressive academic record. My writing skill is something about which I have no second thought, whilst my verbal communication skill is well above average, and simply put, impeccable. I confidently say that I am a good writer in the context of having observed, and in comparison to, my fellow students with relatively poor quality writing skills. I am not writing to tell you how excellent and amazing I am with reference to the above. However, I am writing to appeal to the PR industry to appoint student interns on the basis of merit rather than on the basis of whether they are financially balanced enough to afford a car, a drivers' lincese or whether they are female or fortunate enough to know someone already in the industry.
This tendency on the part of the PR fraternity to exclude good, poor students from interning in favour of the rich, imcompetent, underqualified students (those with Matric only and those currently at second-year level)is unprofessional and has to come to an end. Does being poor mean an automatic disqualification to being placed as an intern? By the way, an internship placement is not a luxury, but a part of a process and means for students in my position to attain a qualification. In other words, what the industry is implying is that if you are poor and from previously disadvantaged background you are not its material. If you are poor, you are poor and there is no way that you can afford to buy a car let alone finacing the process of getting a drivers' license, without prior employment. What the industry is further saying is that if you are impoverished continue to be and if you are rich continue to be, thereby faciliting and contributing to the gap between the rich and poor.
To be honest, I am deeply ashamed to be a member of a profession like this. I have approached many PR companies with regards to internship application and enquiries thereof, but all of them failed to assist me, let alone presenting me with an interview opportunity. Their mainstream excuse that they pose as a challenge to me is that I have no experience, hence they cannot accomo. Experience for internship? Are PR internships not meant to help students gain experience and a qualification? When I look around me; I see my inexperienced fellow students, who have been condoned and advanced to third-year level of study, with placements under their belts. This might be misconstrued as an embodiment of jelousy, but if you look at if from a sober, objective perspective; you will realise that it is a fair fight for corporate parity and justice.
If I may ask PR gurus: is this the way things have always been run and managed in this profession or the so-called profession? Or is this the way things should be? Please help me to demystify this PR-base tendency which I term an 'untenable nonsense'. Please excuse my french.
