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My week with the wonderful Maxim team

March, 2013

Student Vita Vents spent a day a week with us over a couple of months, enabling her to gain a wider variety of experience than she would have in a single week. Here she shares her thoughts on her time at Maxim.

I am about to graduate from the University of Kent and the scary fact is - the real world is upon me; in fact, it will hit me hard in two months time when my dissertation and exams are done. More to the point, my career path search led me to PR and with the employers’ increasing interest in experience, subsequently - Maxim.

I’m a strong believer in the well-known adage: “It’s not where you are, it’s who you’re with”, so after familiarising myself with the staff and their roles as described on the website, I realised that Maxim would be a perfect place to gain some practical work experience.

This was further confirmed by the testimonials of previous interns who sang the praises of the company, namely how wonderful they are at allowing you to do the ‘real’ job and not the menial tasks, like most other work experience opportunities do.

I’m pleased to say - I’m joining the ensemble!

First day excitement

Perhaps due to timing more than anything, my first day consisted of writing a press release, followed by a meeting at BBC South East. Yes, the BBC! It was the most unforgettable experience. Rachel, an account director, and Andrew, a director here at Maxim, kindly invited me to join them at a meeting with a journalist regarding client coverage.

Needless to say, I was so excited! The staff at the BBC were very kind and showed us around the offices and the most exciting part of all – the gallery. Filled with TV screens and about a billion buttons, it is the room where the magic happens – the room that is home to the producers and the team, who ensure a smooth running of the news. I couldn’t have wished for a more perfect first day!

Throughout my time at Maxim, I learned a great deal about what PR really is and that against the popular belief, it’s not all about lunches and drinks with the journalists – it’s so much more than that (although, who doesn’t like a good lunch?).

I am very new to PR and learning some simple terminology, such as the difference between editorial and advertorial coverage, was a great place to begin building my foundations.

Support and guidance

At the time of my arrival at Maxim, I had never written a press release, but not to worry, because the experts at hand did not let me suffer. I was offered so much support and guidance that you’d think these people have nothing better to do!

In the seven short days that I’ve been at Maxim I have: researched, drafted and edited press releases; created event invite lists; put together comment lists; joined client and journalist meetings; and learned how to use the online database, CisionPoint.

Most importantly, I have had a great time learning from an expert team of wise and funny people. Thank you to everyone at Maxim for their efforts to make my experience the best it could ever be!

posted in: media relations, public relations, students’ views,

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