As my second year of studying Journalism and Media at Kingston University was coming to a close, work experience was my next step in deciding what I wanted to do after my studies. After posting my interest in PR work experience on LinkedIn, I was recommended to get in touch with James Meredith at Liberty Communications.
From our first few emails, I could tell Liberty was a company that aligned with everything I was looking for. Liberty is a boutique PR agency, which meant connecting with people of all levels, including employees overseas, felt very accessible.
I set up my work experience with James – he was very welcoming and readily available to answer any questions I had throughout the whole process. I started my two weeks at Liberty with little apprehension; the team made sure that prior to the start date I was sent a full schedule, links to all of my meetings, everybody’s contact details and a warm welcome email from my line manager.
My first day started with an intimate call with my line manager, Hope, and my second point of contact, Jasmine. They both made sure I felt comfortable and had everything that I needed. This was a thoughtful way to settle me into my first day. This call was followed by a Monday morning meeting with the rest of the team, and again everybody was very welcoming
On my third day, a few of the team and I went into the office. Working for a hybrid company is great since you get to experience both ways of working, experiencing the commute and working in London was so exciting!
As someone who hadn’t yet had much experience in PR, Liberty made sure that my first few days were teaching me the basics. I had sessions on introductions to PR, PR tools, different types of technology, and measurement.
Once I understood the basics, the team assigned me a wide range of tasks to complete, giving me a real insight into the world of PR and what the team at Liberty gets up to on a day-to-day basis. One of my first tasks was researching a client and its competitors and creating a media list using Meltwater and Gorkana.
Other tasks I did were a daily news scan, client coverage sweeps, compiling media lists, transcribing calls, drafting social media posts, competitor audits, learning about press releases and more.
Liberty gave me such an amazing opportunity to work on live projects alongside the team – it really felt like I was truly part of the team. Over the two weeks, I always felt supported and knew the team was always an email or call away. No matter how busy they were, the team always took time out to check in.
If you get an opportunity to work at or with Liberty, I could not recommend them more. The work experience/internship scheme via the Liberty Academy is amazingly thought-out and covers so much in your time there.