Skills for a Brave New World: What Our Interns Have Taught Us About the Future of PR
Over the last few years, we’ve had the privilege to participate in Big City Bright Future’s annual paid summer internship and career-accelerating programme, designed to support school leavers from diverse and lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Each summer, we’ve welcomed interns from BCBF, full of creativity and fresh from their intensive training week focused on building professional confidence.
This year, we had the pleasure of bringing Suha and Max into our team, immersing them in everything PR and giving them a crash course in professional working. Over the last two weeks, they’ve been with us through our daily newsreading sessions, building their media list skills, and even joined us for team training on AI tools 👀
But while we’ve taught them (hopefully) a lot, we’ve learnt plenty from them too. Their eagerness to learn and enthusiasm to get stuck in have been infectious. And as you’ll see below, they’re already very skilled communicators. So, to mark the two weeks we’ve spent with them, and World Youth Skills Day on July 15th, we asked them to reflect on what their time with us has taught them about the future of work.
Forget AI networks, what about human networking?
Everyone’s worried about AI replacing them, but I worry that if I work like a robot, I will be easier to replace.
It is easy to think, especially as a young person entering the workforce, that you have to work like a machine: fast, efficiently, faultlessly. That way, you won’t lose your hard-won job to a better employee or an AI agent.
I think that as young people, we focus on the technical aspects of our future careers and so neglect the social side. We are concerned about the future of entry-level employment, but we forget the edge we have over all current LLMs and agents: the emotional connections we can form with those around us.
This week, I have been interning at Babel, undertaking a variety of tasks alongside my fellow intern Suha and the wider team. And as we mark World Youth Skills Day, it’s got me thinking beyond the TVET I have developed here. I might have learned the ins and outs of Excel and how to newsread with the keen eye necessary to spot issues jumps for PR, but the human connections with the people here are what will stick with me. Because a workplace filled with AI agents instead of people doesn’t sound like much fun to me.
So, in honour of this year’s WYSD theme, ‘Skills for a better future’, I encourage everyone to reflect not just on the technical skills needed for work, but also on the interpersonal skills, such as compassion. This is what differentiates us from the AI tools we all feel so threatened by.
Skills and training in tech, cyber, engineering and policy may well create a better future. But for a happier one, we need to have compassion too.
- Max
How do you stay relevant when the ground beneath your feet is constantly moving? The answer isn’t just about moving faster; it’s about adapting smarter.
In today’s media landscape, information moves in real time. Staying adaptable means more than simply keeping up with the news; it means distinguishing what matters from what merely grabs attention. During my time at Babel, my fellow intern Max and I quickly realised the importance of staying informed, whether through our morning news briefings or the TV news channel. Those experiences showed me that news literacy is essential for navigating an ever-changing economic and political landscape.
However, adaptability is only valuable when it is grounded in integrity. Working at a B Corp agency reinforced the importance of ethical communications. It means fact-checking press releases and prioritising accuracy, even when sensationalism or misinformation might promise quicker results.
At Babel, I learned that adaptability is measured by how well you balance speed with accuracy. Long-term trust is built on getting the facts right, even when it takes a little longer.
So, in honour of this year’s World Youth Skills Day theme, Skills for a Better Future, I believe media literacy and ethical integrity are two of the most valuable skills young professionals can develop. In a world that rewards speed, our greatest strength isn’t simply how quickly we adapt, but how thoughtfully and honestly we do so.
– Suha