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Marketing student learns more about public relations

September, 2013

Marketing student Amber Henshaw, 20, describes her week at Maxim.

Having completed my first year of my degree, studying Marketing with Advertising at University of Hertfordshire, public relations was an area of marketing that I had not yet fully grasped. My week's work experience at Maxim, a PR and marketing agency, has really helped me understand what public relations is and where it fits in, in building customer relationships.

An introduction to press release writing

After struggling through the traffic into Tunbridge Wells, I arrived on Monday morning to a warm welcome from everyone in the team and felt immediately comfortable. I was excited to hear from Phil that my very first task was to write a press release.

Before my week at Maxim, I had only ever written one press release as part of my course, to which, rather unhelpfully, I had never got any feedback. Having had a summer away from university, I also felt pretty rusty when it came to writing, so naturally I was quite nervous.

However, after being fully briefed and given support material on how to structure a press release, I didn’t feel too daunted. I went on to write three further press releases. The guidance and feedback I received for all my work from various members of the team over the week really helped me to improve my writing.

Later on in the week, I was given the chance by Rachel to produce a draft for a flier. It was a great insight into the processes involved in producing a leaflet and I am excited to see my work be brought to life by a graphic designer.

Learning about relationships with clients

As well as writing, I was also invited to a meeting between members of the team, in which they were discussing a new potential client and the work they could do for them. I was actively encouraged to give my views and suggest ideas and it really made me feel a part of the team. It was also really helpful getting a full back-story about the client and why they are looking to use PR; this prepared me well for a research task looking at possible media outlets for the new client.

An invaluable experience

My week at Maxim has given me a lot of insight into the working environment at an agency. The experience has really given me confidence as I look towards my year’s work placement and I am definitely considering PR as a possible career path.

I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone at Maxim for making my week so enjoyable as well as insightful. I appreciate you all taking the time to give me constructive feedback on my work and help me in developing my skills.

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