A valuable way to spend the summer
August 2011 by Adele ForestBy Lara McCarthy
I’ve always been interested in English and writing, so when I applied to university I decided a good option would be a journalism degree as I feel I would be suited to a career in public relations and the media.
After finishing sixth form in June I had a long three months to kill before starting university in September, but I wanted to use some of my time wisely – and this is when OnTrack PR came to my rescue!
As I had only worked for the family business before I was a bit nervous about going into a new environment but when I arrived on my first day I felt very welcomed and was set to work straight away.
I was given many news writing tasks that involved researching, interviewing, constructing and issuing press releases to the media, which was something completely new to me.
I really enjoyed the whole process and it definitely helped me to improve my writing and people skills and seeing my work published online was quite exciting - I couldn’t resist constantly clicking on it and seeing my hard efforts and by-line!
I also carried out research into several different topics, and even gained event management experience as I helped to plan a future party for the opening of a new office!
I really felt I was given tasks that were helpful to the company, not tasks that were just to pass my time as the ‘work experience girl’, I was kept busy but I wasn’t thrown in at the deep end or pressured.
During my week I was also able to work at HR Media in Sheffield which is the sister company to On Track PR and gained further knowledge on the world of Public Relations in South Yorkshire.
It was a hugely valuable week and I have gained knowledge and experience that will help me in my future career and it also showed me that not all office jobs are dull as On Track was fun and friendly!
I think gaining this work experience over my summer break will prove to be very important in my future…
