In March I started my internship working in PR here at Jennie Holland PR. Now, a month into my placement, I would like to share my experience of how I got here, what I’ve been doing and some advice to those also wanting to get into PR.
By Amy Webley
I am a second-year student at Nottingham Trent University studying Fashion Marketing & Branding and over the last two years, we have had a series of employability talks and I found that when I was starting to consider job roles my natural strengths and abilities suited working in PR.
Our lecturers always said you don’t know if you’re cut out for PR until you’re in it and so when we were given the option of a placement module, I felt that was the perfect opportunity to find out.
On my first day, I had a mix of excitement and nerves. However, as soon as I walked in I realised there was nothing to worry about and instantly felt like a member of the team. Following government advice, I was only in the office for the first week of my placement. However, even working remotely the team have made me feel confident and supported.
While the current situation is not what you’d call a ‘typical’ placement experience, I feel incredibly lucky to still be a member of the team and have witnessed how companies act in a time of crisis, which I think is really valuable experience.
In my time here, I have been lucky enough to have learnt about and worked across the full suite of PR services Jennie Holland PR offers, both in terms of traditional PR and media relations as well as digital PR and social media management. I have created a number of social sheets for clients, drafted listicle stories and press releases, carried out research into potential clients as well as working on business development and crisis communications.
I have been able to use my past experience and university knowledge in this role while being challenged with things I have never done before. With another two months to go in this placement, I am excited to see what else I will learn and gain from this experience.
When I was at a university careers fair somebody who worked for a big corporation was advising people looking for placements to go to smaller companies, saying we would all get much more valuable experience that way, be utilised and learn a lot more. I can definitely confirm that this is true and I would like to pass on the same advice to those looking to secure placements in the future.
I have developed my skills so much in this current role and have been entrusted with various tasks that I can imagine students wouldn’t be trusted with if working for a bigger company. When working for a smaller business you get more of an insight into the business dynamic, the various roles and jobs that people cover, and you absorb valuable learnings from listening to conversations and witnessing nearly everything that goes on in the day-to-day life of that business.
To get the most out of any experience, my main advice would be to visualise yourself as a sponge, absorb anything and everything you can. You definitely get out what you put in to the opportunity and how much you choose to take in.