How student-run firms are adapting to—and learning from—COVID-19

PRSSA students run firms at universities across the country—an experience which is giving them firsthand knowledge of the industry during COVID-19.

These firms provide communications students with opportunities to turn what they are learning in the classroom into valuable hands-on experiences, such as working and building relationships with clients and acquiring a host of other skills that they’ll need as they graduate from being students to becoming new public relations professionals.

As was true for virtually everyone, the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic disrupted our plans and lives in unforeseeable ways. As the new school year approaches, we are all trying to learn not only how to execute high-quality work for our clients, but also how to change our work styles to accommodate for COVID-19.

I spoke with students at three of our PRSSA firms about how the current world situation is causing them to have to adapt to and rethink their PR work, with each school taking a hybrid approach during the fall semester, a combination of online and in-person classes.