Dear Jennie Holland PR,
As I head into my second year studying Fashion Journalism and Content Creation at London College of Fashion, I wanted the opportunity to gain hands-on experience which allows me to utilise my writing and social media skill set, and joining your agency was perfect for me.
During my internship, I was mainly remote. As someone who likes to get support when needed, this wasn’t a problem as Rebecca and I would do a teams call regularly and she’d check in with me to make sure I understood everything and felt supported. During my time with JHPR I got involved in a range of activities, from attending different client meetings, to carrying out industry research, drafting insightful blogs, content for press, and creating social media assets. I also assisted the team with the all-important analytics reporting and helped with tracking coverage.
I chose to work three days a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and every day was different. I always looked forward to learning something new and I gained a lot of new skills and knowledge during my internship.
I have enjoyed writing press releases, but more specifically, I’ve enjoyed writing for a variety of sectors including about social value and charitable collaborations, as I was able to learn a lot about important causes. I also enjoyed writing blogs as that was something that I had done before, but I was able to get creative and put my own knowledge to good use. My favourite article that I wrote during my time here was about the importance of disability representation within the media industry, as it was more personal and a chance to share my own experience and knowledge to educate people.
One of the biggest challenges that I faced was writing about topics that are more unfamiliar, as this put me outside of my comfort zone slightly. During university I tend to write about the newest fashion trends and upcoming fashion shows, so working with clients in the built environment and food and drink sectors certainly tested my skills, and I was happy to explore uncharted territories.
Although a career in PR hasn’t always been on my mind, after completing this internship, I feel that it will definitely be an option that I am open to, as I learn more about myself and progress into my second year of university.
Advice to future interns:
Don’t be afraid to ask questions and use the people that you’re working with to your advantage. They know you are new to this, therefore they don’t expect you to be perfect straight away!
I would like to give special thanks to both Jennie and Rebecca for welcoming me into the agency with open arms. Especially thank you to Rebecca for helping me and answering all of my questions and making me feel like that no questions were silly questions.
Lots of love,
Laaibah