Having completed a month working in PR at two of these - Rewired and McCann - Claudia has shared her thoughts on what she has learnt from this invaluable experience... and how she can apply this to her final year of studies, and beyond.
I've just finished a jam-packed month of interning at two award winning Midlands PR agencies; Rewired and McCann Birmingham.
Both placements were real eye openers into the world of PR and put a lot
of what I have learnt in this past year (both in theory and practical modules) into
practice. I had the pleasure of working alongside talented individuals who
allowed me to work on live campaigns and have a real taster of what PR really
is all about.
I started off with two weeks at Rewired PR, a creative PR,
marketing and events agency based in the Jewellery Quarter, made up on only eight professionals - so quite small. However, although the agency might be small in size,
their clients are the complete opposite. They ranged from regional big names such as
Cadbury World and The Mailbox to Marco Pierre White, Gaucho and BBC’s Good Food
Show & BBC’s Gardeners’ World Live.
I was initially apprehensive about the internship,
considering I hadn’t ever had a PR specific placement before. However, if
anything, time proved that I had chosen the right career path as I found out very quickly it was something that I enjoyed.
I spent an incredibly interesting fortnight at Rewired,
where I was tasked with everything from creating social media content for a
number of clients, to researching projects and even writing blog posts, and
drafting copy.
Working on a number of accounts over the two weeks really
helped me hone and develop skills that I will need to work in the world of PR - not all of which can be taught in a traditional sense. I also found that working in a smaller
agency meant that I was able to work closely with a different colleague each day, offering my help where needed.
I then spent a further two weeks at McCann Erickson PR, a social media and advertising agency based in Solihull, made up
of around 200 professionals. Here I met Heather Woodhouse, who has just graduated fromBCU School of Media, who kindly showed me the ropes and kept me under her wing (thanks
Heather!).
I spent a fortnight working on a range of clients including Screwfix, Fiskars, Maped Helix and Fruittella. My day-to-day tasks were never
the same and was positively challenging. I completed daily paper checks for
coverage, researched bloggers for potential collaborations, created media
databases and prepared press releases - to name a few of the tasks I was given!
One aspect of my internship that I really ended up enjoying (but didn’t think I would initially) was call-ins / sell-ins. Easily one of the
most important parts of getting clients coverage, sell-ins are where you call up a list of journalists who might be interested in your story, giving them a brief pitch over the phone before then sending over the relevant press release. I have really developed my communication skills and have a new found
confidence when it comes to calling/selling in stories to press/journalists/editors that I
really never thought I would have.
I think that one of the main things that I have learnt over
a month of interning at Rewired PR and McCann Erickson is that you need to
adapt quickly and be able to multitask. With a range of clients that cross over
a range of sectors, you need to be able to change your tone on demand and keep
you ideas relevant for each demographic; something I realised quickly when working
on varied task lists.
Additionally, my internships highlighted the importance on
being on top of my own work and staying organised. Having good time-management
skills was essential while working across different client accounts which often had
time-pressured deadlines.
On a personal development level, my internships gave me a real insight into
what I would like to do professionally once I have graduated. Inevitably, there were some sectors
that I was really interested in and accounts I enjoyed working on, and some
that were a bit harder for me to get my head around. I believe
that through my studies and my new experiences, I am on a learning curve and I can take these placements forward with me
when I start apply for grad jobs, in order to make sure that I find something I
like and can apply myself to.
I’d like to say a huge thank you to all of the people that I
have worked with over the past month, for not only welcoming me, but also being
patient with my hundreds of questions!
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| Claudia collecting her B-Hive award in March 2017 |
Follow Claudia Miguel on Twitter.
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