Guest post by Brooke Winebrenner

As a current grunt work guru of Peppercom, I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to comment on last week’s RepMan post from Steve Cody and expand on the grunt work mentioned, from an intern perspective. I began interning at Peppercom over a month ago, and I have had the opportunity to work on an array of client projects, that from day one have presented various challenges and obstacles.

I have seen my fair share of grunt work, but at the same time I have put into perspective that all of my co-workers and supervisors have walked in my footsteps. For this, they have an understanding and are appreciative of the time and work that an intern puts in. My daily tasks vary from day to day, but some of the work you may classify as grunt work include:

• Completing media coverage reports
• Pulling editorial calendars
• Developing media lists
• Social media and news monitoring
• Meeting note taking
• Distributing media mailers

This list is by no means the entire list of my responsibilities or all of the work I have completed, but this may give you an idea of the tasks I have mastered. As Steve mentions, some may complain of the “misery” they have been subjected to as they slaved over their current or previous internship tasks, but I would like to tell those people that they should appreciate the assignments they are given. I am sure they could be put out of their misery and there would be more than enough people willing to take their spot.

I know I am very grateful for all of the work I can get my hands on (whether it’s grunt work or not) and would like for my superiors to feel comfortable enough to consider me that go-to-person. I want to be the best possible grunt, as Steve mentions. Whether my task is big or small, I know that everything I give really does matter and that it contributes to the team’s end result and success.

After speaking with Peppercom’s managing director and co-founder, Ed Moed, this only reassured my latter comment. He mentioned to a group of very attentive interns, that the work we are completing now is providing us with a foundation that every successful public relations professional needs to have an understanding of. The internship offers insight into the faceted skills we must be equipped with to produce and implement strategy and tactics for clients in the future. Ed’s interpretation of an intern was very inspiring and important advice that I will always keep in mind as I continue to work daily.

What is some of the grunt work you have completed and how did this task help you to grow?