Public Relations Coordinator Co-op at Bose Corporation, Fall 2024
What was your co-op like day-to-day?
“I feel like with PR each day is different. My most consistent task was handling inventory. Bose sends out a ton of products to press with the hope that they’ll write about them, so one of my tasks was to handle the excel sheet and manager orders and press with publicists. Other than that it was a lot of research and writing if we had new product launches or colorways. I would do research on industry trends or partnerships. For holidays they would do extra pitching to reporters, so I’d do research on reporters and in general handle a lot of potential press opportunities.”
“Some of my research was for an upcoming partnership with the brand Susan Alexandra, which does beaded bags. I looked into how the media covers the brand, what they talk about, different partnerships that they’ve had, and which publications were talking about them in particular. If it was research for a product launch, there were two different types of reporters that they’d reach out to, so I reached out to both tech and lifestyle reporters to pitch the product to them. A partnership like the one with Susan Alexandra would be categorized as lifestyle, and they launched a soundbar while I was with Bose, which would be on the tech side. The reporters often agree to write about a product if they are able to test it out first.”
What was your favorite part of the co-op? What did you find most interesting?
“My favourite part was the exposure to many different parts of the business and how that relates to PR. My first co-op I was at an agency and I was very bottom of the barrel. I got all the stuff that no one else wanted to do, but when you do in-house PR you usually have an agency that you’d contact so I spent much less time starting a draft or a press release or building out a media list and more of sitting in meetings and seeing how PR fits into the company’s strategy. They regularly would have a day of review and listening to the next products that were being released, so they had a fiscal year product demo while I was there which was just 4 hours of learning about the new colors and products coming out. There were multiple sessions, some with the design team, some with the sales team, some with the engineers.”
What was the most challenging part?
“I went into this co-op genuinely not knowing anything about tech and the tech industry, so I quickly had to catch myself up on the major reporters and news outlets covering the tech industry. I learned the difference between wearable tech and home tech systems. My team was pretty small, which I loved, there were only two other people who’d be in-office in Framingham when I would go in-person. The rest were in different locations globally, so I had to think about time zones a lot.”
How did you decide on this co-op?
“My first co-op was in public relations for Issues Management Group, a mid-size communication agency in Boston. I mainly worked on healthcare non-profit and some real estate clients. It was cool to get press releases, media lists, and pitching experience. Most of the clients we had were b2b (business to business), so I knew I wanted something in-house when I was looking at a second co-op, and I knew I wanted to do something with a company that was doing something with consumer products. I knew I wanted to see the other side of things, and this opportunity matched what I was looking for.”
How did your time at Northeastern help prepare you for the role?
“My sophomore year I joined a club called the student alumni ambassadors that works to connect current students to former students, at which I held a position at one point. I helped host an event to connect students with alumni, like networking events. That helped me a lot as a first exposure to a professional environment.”
How did the experience help further your academic and professional goals?
“My first co-op definitely affirmed my decision to get into PR, and pursue a second co-op in the field. My second one I got really close with everyone and got to know them very well, and the majority of them started out with an agency and my manager connected me with people who worked with or had connections at an agency who worked in a million different industries from food to fashion, so getting to talk to all of those different people who work in different types of PR. I think it will help me a lot.”
Do you have any advice for students searching for co-ops?
“My advice would be that all experiences are good experiences. It may not be exactly what you’re looking for and exactly what you want to do. Being in a professional environment you learn a lot of research skills, writing skills, and speaking skills. And you might be surprised at what you find.”
