By: Mia Yoshimura
In the midst of internship application season, communications and public relations students may feel a seeping panic: Am I falling behind?
However, many students don’t realize some of the strongest career readiness training happens outside of an internship. If you’re working a serving, food service, retail or customer-facing job this summer, it can build more real PR skills than you would expect.
Crisis Communication
In public relations coursework, students learn about crisis communication, usually in the context of a brand being under fire or facing online controversy.
You can see this play out at a restaurant:
A customer receives the wrong order and is upset
The kitchen is running behind, and you, as the server, have to deliver the bad news
A customer is raising their voice at you for something out of your control
In these scenarios, you have mere seconds to react and de-escalate the situation.
This can teach you to stay calm under pressure, think on your feet, choose words carefully and protect the “brand” (the restaurant). Crisis communication aims to “control the narrative, reduce confusion and present an image of transparency and accountability,” according to the Park University article How to Develop an Effective Crisis Communication Strategy. These are the same skills PR professionals use when responding to media inquiries and backlash.
Being a Brand Representative
When customers interact with you, you are the brand’s face.
Audiences don’t separate a social media manager from the company. In this same way, customers don’t separate a server from a restaurant. Every interaction shapes how people perceive the company.
As Aleksandr Zemel writes in Forbes, “People generally don’t choose brands based on quality or price-- they choose ones that make them feel valued.” In customer-facing jobs, you are the person making customers feel valued.
Working in food service or retail, you’ve subconsciously practiced brand voice and representation, audience perception and reputation management.
Image source: NBC Universal
Soft Skills
Soft Skills
During an interview for an undergraduate research assistant position within Ohio State’s School of Communication, my lead researcher told me that she noticed I had worked as a server in high school.
She told me she’s noticed that people who’ve worked as servers are reliable, responsible and professional. Servers can work in team environments, show up on time and multitask, all of which are skills needed not only in the PR industry but in almost any career path.
Data supports this observation. A 2025 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland found that “the most requested skill is ‘communication,’ ‘customer service’ and ‘management’ are the next most in demand skills, mentioned in 26.9 and 23.0 percent of job ads.”
The skills you gain and practice every shift are the same ones employers search for.
Learning to Translate the Difference: From Part-Time Job Skills to the PR Industry
Through working as a server, retail associate or handling customers all summer, you gain many skills that directly apply to a career in the PR industry. The key difference is learning how to translate this experience into your resume and interviews. Instead of simply saying “I worked as a server,” you can frame this to fit a job interview. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, communication, teamwork and professionalism are among the most sought-after competencies when hiring employees. By emphasizing these skills that can be developed through customer-facing roles, an interviewer can get a different take on your experience beyond simply being a server or retail associate.
The PR industry isn’t simply about writing press releases and scheduling posts. Instead, it needs the soft skills of managing people, emotions, perceptions and communication in unpredictable situations.
So if you’re working a serving or retail job this summer because you didn’t secure an internship, this isn’t a setback-- it’s a practical PR training environment.
