MAVERICK Idol Is Back Again

Last year, I wrote about how MAVERICK offered an internship position via an American Idol-type of competition.

Now that I work at MAVERICK, I'm excited to see that the agency is doing it again. One of last year's contestants, Katie Boland, is still a full-time employee here and I work with her on a couple of different projects.

This year's competition will mean that the aspiring intern has to face two rounds of questions from a panel of MAVERICK employees. I think this is a great chance for the applicant to show that they are good at public speaking and can think quickly on their feet.

The winner will be notified that day, and will receive an twelve-week paid internship (from what I've heard, the pay for this is above average for similar internships). More importantly, they'll get experience in media monitoring, writing, planning and social media. While there is no guarantee that they will end the internship with a job, the experience will help them in their career.

For more details, please see Julie "The Maven" Rusciolelli's blog post about the contest (or check the MAVERICK website) . Interested applicants should send an email with their resume to idol@Maverickpr.com by May 7 at 5:00 p.m. They will then have to show up in person at the MAVERICK offices on May 12 at 10:00 am.

Is this a good way to find interns? If you are a student, would you apply for a position this way?

-Parker

So You Think You Can Intern Toronto

What an innovative idea - MAVERICK Public Relations is offering aspiring young PR pros a chance to win an internship.

According to the blog of Julie Ruscioelli (Maverick PR President and founder), " the lucky winner of the first MAVERICK Idol will be granted an eight-week paid internship at the award-winning PR firm during the summer of 2009."

The contest will take the form of two rounds, giving the participants a total of seven minutes to show that they've got the MAVERICK stuff.  From the news release, it sounds like they're encouraging the applicants to be as creative as possible.

I think this is a great idea for a number of reasons. First of all, it is much more of a real-life experience than a job interview. Being in PR means giving a lot of presentations and having to sell your idea. With a format like this, MAVERICK is more likely to find an intern with the workplace skills they're looking for (and, as sometimes happens with internships, result in a full-time job later on). It also gives the aspiring intern a great chance to practice their presentation skills. Scotty Mac, who works at MAVERICK and is no doubt one of the brains behind this idea, adds that the presentations will only be in front of the MAVERICK judges, rather than in front of all the other applicants as well.

For more information and the full contest rules, check out the MAVERICK Idol event on Facebook

-Parker

PS: what's the deal with PR firms and their insistence on capitalizing their names? NATIONAL? SHIFT? MAVERICK?