London Calling

Hello all. I headed "daan saaf" yesterday and have arrived in the big city. I begin my adventure into the world of arts PR on Monday. All very exciting (and I'm glad I have remembered to change my clocks)I fear I'm getting a bit of a reputation as "that girl that applies for loads of work experience placements." It could be worse!

I think this is because the only reason I did my first PR placement was to see if I was actually interested in it. In my head, it could have been the first of many career experiments that ended in a definite "God I could never do that for a living!"My heart now seems to be set on PR, but now what I need to know is what kind of PR. In house, outside agency, business, lifestyle, fashion...? The list goes on. So I'm seeing whether a mixture of PR and my love of the theatre will result in my dream job. As Freud said, a happy life consists of success in love and work, so it would be useful to tick off the work side of things at least.

This whole 'suck it and see' attitude seems to be paying off so far though. Potential employers can spot passion in someone and many that I have contacted have been only too happy to offer shadowing opportunities etc (along with many that never got back to me or politely rejected me.) I think experimenting whilst at University is a good idea, so by the time you graduate you have a clear path you want to follow and a great list of contacts.I have to admit, although I'm extremely excited about the prospect of photo shoots, opening nights, free tickets and celebrity sightings (which I have been guaranteed,) I'm still not sure if this 'small town gal' is really cut out for London life. Only time will tell...

Work placements in smaller organisations

I had my first day at one on of my new placements today, at a PR agency in Newcastle. I would definitely recommend getting some work experience in a small team, (this particular company employs 7 people) as you really do get stuck in with some real tasks, not just the obligatory making coffee and sorting post.

The whole company works from the same office, so I’m getting a really good overview of what’s going on and can actually have a conversation with anyone in the room. There is always the danger that once you arrive at your placement company, they will shove you in a corner and leave you to your own devices, but once again I am lucky enough to find myself in a really good team who all do their best to explain how things work and keep me busy with a variety of tasks.

They have even asked me to write a press release about how the company are proud to take on undergraduates for work placements with the possibility of a full-time job offer at the end. This can only be a good sign considering all the pessimism about graduate jobs in the media at the moment!

I think it’s important that work experience is mutually beneficial. You should feel like you are really gaining something from the experience as well as being able to make a real difference to how the company functions. I feel this all sounds too serious. What I haven’t mentioned is the very first thing I did was attempt to hang my coat up, however I managed to snap the hook off the wall. Oops.

She's alive!

Oh dear... I seem to have been in some kind of online hibernation. I’m sure this happens to the best of bloggers right?

In my defence, unfortunately 2009 hasn’t dealt me the best of cards so far and my brain is taking a while to readjust. But, on the plus side, a big life changing slap in the face can be just what you need to focus all your energies onto bigger and better things. And let me say, on the career front there have been a number of new developments.

I have now left you hanging for a good few weeks about how the interview in London went, and you may now breathe a sigh of relief as it went very well. I have bagged myself a 3 week PR placement in the Easter hols, vv exciting.

Although I am a tad concerned about becoming one of the rush-hour underground sardines. Eek.Also, thanks to all the publicity about the lack of graduate jobs (and my general keenness) I have also secured myself two further PR placements which will bulk out the old CV even more.

Work experience can be a fantastic pathway to becoming a fully fledged paid member of the team. It gives the employer a sort of “free trail” of how you contribute to their company. So treat every day as an extended job interview, and don’t give them a reason to let you go!

Note to self: Don’t eat a big bag of minstrels in one sitting