The Liberty Academy was established in 2013 as a programme aimed at helping students and recent graduates learn more about the PR industry and what an entry level role working in PR is like. In more recent times, we have refreshed the initiative to place an increasing focus on establishing long term partnerships with universities in both the UK and US.
This has seen us collaborate with the careers, events and employer relations departments at a number of leading universities to engage in their own programmes of support for students. We have delivered a number of presentations to students about what a career in the PR industry entails, as well as practical sessions to support students with advice around areas such as how to approach interviews and how to deliver presentations.
We are also working closely with our university partners to offer internship placements to students who are interested in learning more about the PR industry and to get first-hand experience of the types of tasks and responsibilities involved day-to-day at a PR agency such as Liberty.
We firmly believe we have a responsibility as an employer to support the next generation entering the workforce, and through the Liberty Academy it is our aspiration to do just that.
As a further indication of our commitment to understanding the challenges facing young people currently, we previously commissioned some research in collaboration with Opinium, to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of young people in the US and UK. You can access the findings of the research from the US here and the UK here.