Getting the most out of your placements

1. Getting the most out of your placements

2. What we will discuss • Who we are • The first impression • Working across accounts • Media relations • Social media • Writing • CV • Going above and beyond • Conclusion

3. Who are the works? We are a team of sector specialist consultants adept at pinpointing great talent. We give relevant advice as we have many networks to leverage from. “

4. Our Clients

5. Sarah Leembruggen – Managing Partner “ European PR & Events Controller – Accolade Wines Executive Search Sarah handles senior assignments on a search and contingency basis. Her focus is primarily in corporate and financial communications. Most of her candidates are sourced through referrals and many exclusively register with her. With 14 years of recruitment experience, Sarah is widely acknowledged as a leading player in the sector. She ran The Works for a short time prior to going into partnership with Lynne Wilkins at which point they bought the business.

6. Tarasyn Whitehead-Patey – Consultant Account Executives to Senior Account Managers Tarasyn focuses on supporting account executives, account managers and press officers to make great career moves across all the PR disciplines. Tarasyn was formerly a research analyst at a leading market research agency handling reports for Blue Chip companies. She holds a degree in Politics and Sociology from the University of Exeter and whilst studying held internships at ‘Bell Pottinger’ and in Government. Senior Vice President – FTI Consulting

7. The first impression Look Student days are behind you (for now). Dress for the job you want, not the job you have Manner Adapt and embrace the office lingo and etiquette, no one expects to teach you! Enthusiasm Nothing goes down better than employees that are enthusiastic about what they are doing Confidence You don’t need to fake it, you just need to feel it Going above and beyond Going the extra mile is the making of a successful PR career For example…

8. “Get to grips with your admin as early as possible; create a features list / press list, make sure you're on top”. • Account Manager • Corporate PR consultancy Working across accounts • Research different clients, accounts and people • High pressure, fast paced • Multi-tasking • Understand colleagues are busy! • Sometimes you will feel like a dog’s body 

9. Media relations • Know media titles and journalists • Start building your network • Selling-in! • Making a journo’a job easy • Diligence, diligence, diligence “Get to know the media titles you will be pitching to and within the sectors your clients work within. You should know them inside out”. – Communications Manager Video PR agency – PR Manager Consumer PR agency

10. Social media • Your future employers expect you to be ahead of the social media game • Professional and personal – PR Manager Consumer PR agency

11. – PR Manager Consumer PR agency

12. Writing • Embrace any opportunity to write • Get the small stuff right – spelling and grammar • Bring in creativity when the opportunity arises • Adapt to different writing styles • Learn to do it quickly • Know your press release! “Write! Offer to write opinion articles or if the agency has their own blog, get blogging! This will help improve your writing skills for the future when you're then writing on behalf of clients”. – Communications Manager Video PR agency – Communications Manager Digital PR agency

13. “Take the opportunity to go to as many free industry events as possible; both PR related and those relevant to your client sectors. This way you'll learn what's happening in the industry... as you get busier you won't have as much free time to attend these”. Networking • Invaluable resource • Building contacts • It is not what you know • Fuels enthusiasm • This is the time to invest in building these contacts • Free wine and food! – PR Executive HR Association “if there's a chance to meet people in the industry. Take it. If your team is going for drinks. Go with. Increase your face time with all of them”. – – PR Manager International Travel PLC

14. Your CV If you choose to put social media links on your CV make sure that your accounts are a) active, b) professional c) worth reading! Don’t write CV/Curriculum Vitae at the top – it adds nothing. Make your name a couple of font sizes bigger than everything else It is not compulsory to include your date of birth, nationality etc because of equality legislation If you choose to have a personal summary make sure you adapt it to every job you apply for Summarise key responsibilities and experience with specific examples, ideally related back to the client. Use proactive words (e.g. ‘Forged’, ‘Managed’, ‘Secured’) and give examples of results Bullet point your experience and write CV in the first person BUT beware of overusing ‘I’. A good way of doing this is to remove the personal pronoun e.g. ‘Generated media coverage in…’, ‘Managed a team’ of…’ No need to list all subjects at GCSE but say how many and what grades) Keep this up to date with your strongest achievements – Communications Manager Video PR agency – Communications Manager Digital PR agency Mention if you speak any languages (fluently) or have been on any formal training courses e.g. for social media/writing etc No need to provide references on your CV

15. Senior Vice President – FTI Consulting So, what is the number one attribute you need to be successful in PR?

16. Senior Vice President – FTI Consulting What do you think?

17. Going above and beyond • These skills are necessary, but they have to tie in with the right attitude • And to stand above the rest? Have a positive attitude!! • You will make mistakes • Always think of two solutions

18. Conclusion • First impression • Do your homework • Positive attitude – get the right mindset • Working across accounts, media relations, writing, networking and your CV • Always offer to help • Enjoy! – PR Manager Consumer PR agency

19. Senior Vice President – FTI Consulting Any questions? The Works Search and Selection 52 Brook StreetLondon W1K 5DS www.the-works.co.uk