Some of The Best Experience Possible

Being a part of the Genesis PR team for two weeks has been a great opportunity to get a different perspective of PR and what it entails. I knew that from the off it would be a positive experience; Genesis PR has won numerous awards over its years of business, making them one of the top PR agencies in East Anglia, so I was confident I’d be getting some of the best experience possible and really wanted to make the most out of my time here.

My first week began by getting involved with writing press releases, learning about mail merging, getting to grips with media analytics and having the chance to sit in on meetings and phone calls with clients. This was a great opportunity to see the clients’ responses to the progress Genesis PR is making for their business.

Being an agency, the clients I was working for were really varied, which was a useful reference for my own career prospects to see what takes my interest and I could potentially specialise in in the future. These included Notcutts garden centres. I enjoyed writing press releases and being a part of client meetings, however, the initial prospect of making calls was daunting, but after my 60th phone call I’d like to think I’d gotten to grips with it!

One client in particular that I was keen to learn more about was Ipswich charity FIND (Families in Need) who Genesis PR is carrying out pro bono work fo). FIND is a charity that has been running in Ipswich for over 25 years, and is making many positive changes in and around the area. It is great to see the impact Genesis PR is making and how it is spreading awareness of a charity that will continue to support those who need it most. FIND supplies furniture as well as vital food supplies to families in need.

By the second week I had the chance to sit in on a PRCA webinar about ‘Climbing the PR Career Ladder’ and a CIPR webinar called ‘How to Write Faster and Better’, I attended the fortnightly team meeting (a great opportunity to see what everyone else was up to with their clients) and created a master press release, which will later be updated county by county using the second mail merging spreadsheet I put together. I also had the chance to do some ‘behind the scenes’ work, preparing promo packs.

The range and variety of jobs I’ve had over my two weeks has given me an interesting glimpse of real life PR, which I know will stand me in good stead for my future career – whether it is in PR or not, the skills and confidence I’ve gained will be valuable in whichever career I end up (but ideally in the PR and comms sector!)

It’s been great to apply the skills I’ve gained over my two years studying PR at University of Lincoln to real life, hands-on situations and deal with clients up and down the country; however, I know I’ll be applying skills I’ve learnt here to my third and final year at uni, too. Everyone has been so welcoming and friendly – which helped me to settle in straight away and feel like a valued member of the team; this I’ve really appreciated. I can’t thank Genesis PR and the team enough for having me there, sharing their expertise with me and offering me the best and most full experience possible.