For me it’s important important to get experience of what working in PR is really like, and even though I’m only in my first year, I’m taking up every opportunity possible.
When I walked up to a huge glass building with thousands of people coming in and out every day, it was safe to say I was intimidated. Compared to my previous part time jobs, it was needless to say that commuting to London to work for a huge corporation like M&S was a very big deal.
For the week I was mainly focused in the Lingerie department but also got to spend time in the Press Office, which was brilliant experience that I really enjoyed. This was on the eighth floor and I was told that a few people had suffered panic attacks when they get to the 10th floor, with the whole buildng and lifts being made of glass. While I have no known fear of heights, even I was feeling a little woozy when I got to the top (that sounds likes some philisophical metaphor, but I promise you it’s not).
My week at M&S included:
- Shadowing PR and Marketing managers in pitches and meetings
- Conducting my own research in M&S London stores and it’s competitors (a day in Oxford Street and Westfields visiting stores such as Selfridges and Debenhams… yawn, it’s a hard life!)
- Preparing my own presentation to give to my boss… eek!
- Sending off press samples for photoshoots, etc
- Lots of office jobs and general running about!
Overall, I had a fantastic week. Getting to experience of what life working in the Big Smoke would really be like was really valuable, and something I could definitely see myself doing in the future. Despite the 5.30am starts in order to commute with some of Kents grumpiest folk – I loved every second!
Alex King 