University Life as PR Student “I had my first experience of a telephone interview this week!”

So you are probably wondering what second year Public Relations students do apart from fret about getting a internship for next year? Well I go to a weekly placement too at Hatch Communications, in Leeds! And apart from that of course, I do go to University lectures and tutorials. After a successful first term I am more determined that ever to achieve more of those high 2:1’s and firsts this year. To keep up the good work I have realised that organisation is the key; I am one of those “list writers” and constantly with my head in my diary forward planning for the next deadline and happily scribbling through the jobs I have completed that day.

Public Relations assessments are very varied. This is great as it challenges us at all the different obstacles we will have to face during our practical PR experience. This term we have one exam to study for, two sets of group assessed work and one essay to prepare, all alongside the portfolio of course.

The emphasize I place on this portfolio may surprise you but the attention on our portfolios is vital and mentioned from the very first lecture you attend in September, you literally cannot get it out of your mind! It is not only important as a grade for a module but it is an example of what you can really do in the work place and whether this is to do with how “good” your weekly placement is or just to what extend you use your initiative to get a “good” weekly placement is a mystery.

Personally I think this year’s weekly work experience is far more important than ever as it is a great way to show what you can really offer to your possible internship employees.

Reflecting on last year in terms of the portfolio as a first year student I didn’t have a full understanding of what had been asked of me. I had experience in In house and agency work in preparation for my portfolio but I wasn’t sure how to apply the work I did on a weekly basis to my coursework. This year however I was counting portfolio times before December! I get excited to see my own work in real media publications and I have begun to understand that this is what makes PR so exciting; you can start from a simple creative brainstorm and work towards real results!