Last week I had the pleasure of welcoming Emma into my office to assist me with a number of publicity projects. Emma is a student at the University of Hertfordshire, in her second year. She is hoping to have a career in PR or journalism. With the job market for graduates being scary, she was keen to gain some real hands on experience of working in a small company.
Before last week, friends of mine were saying "What will you get her to do?" and "Well, she won't be able to do anything - you know what young people are like.."
Well I was a young person once, and I didn't know what to do in an office. I was given a chance and we lived in a different world 20+ years ago. This was my chance to give something back - and also to get something myself.
Emma and I had met beforehand to discuss the placement and for us to be clear about what we both wanted to get out of the experience. Before Monday, I planned some tasks I knew she could do; these included setting up some new media databases, writing 2 press releases and chasing up some journalists that I had sent articles to.
On the first day Emma wrote a great article - but it wasn't a press release. She learnt from that and tweaked it. Within a day she'd managed to get it included on local websites for an event we were involved in. She also had new contacts at local newspapers and had invited them to the event.
Emma also went through my existing media list and checked it: adding new contacts with their special areas of interest. We also discovered some news wire websites where we could add press releases.
These are all tasks I would not have got round to doing so it was a genuine benefit to me. Emma was able to follow through a complete Press campaign with some great results. It is unlikely she would have had that experience working in a larger company.
It was an invaluable experience for us both and I would strongly recommend it to any small company. All of the universities are desperate for placements for their undergraduates and new graduates. Go on; take the plunge and give a young person a chance to gain some valuable experience!
Before last week, friends of mine were saying "What will you get her to do?" and "Well, she won't be able to do anything - you know what young people are like.."
Well I was a young person once, and I didn't know what to do in an office. I was given a chance and we lived in a different world 20+ years ago. This was my chance to give something back - and also to get something myself.
Emma and I had met beforehand to discuss the placement and for us to be clear about what we both wanted to get out of the experience. Before Monday, I planned some tasks I knew she could do; these included setting up some new media databases, writing 2 press releases and chasing up some journalists that I had sent articles to.
On the first day Emma wrote a great article - but it wasn't a press release. She learnt from that and tweaked it. Within a day she'd managed to get it included on local websites for an event we were involved in. She also had new contacts at local newspapers and had invited them to the event.
Emma also went through my existing media list and checked it: adding new contacts with their special areas of interest. We also discovered some news wire websites where we could add press releases.
These are all tasks I would not have got round to doing so it was a genuine benefit to me. Emma was able to follow through a complete Press campaign with some great results. It is unlikely she would have had that experience working in a larger company.
It was an invaluable experience for us both and I would strongly recommend it to any small company. All of the universities are desperate for placements for their undergraduates and new graduates. Go on; take the plunge and give a young person a chance to gain some valuable experience!
