Intermittent Internship couldn’t dampen my thirst for public relations experience

BlogIntern Programme

Races, holidays, trains, bikes and a lot of typing – my internship at Holyrood PR 

Holyrood PR intern holding bike

By Scott Crossett

SHAKY. That is probably the word I would use to describe the start of my internship at  Holyrood PR, Scotland’s Most Outstanding Small Public Relations Agency.

It was all self-inflicted, mind you. It turns out my diary management really isn’t everything I thought it was. As a result, my internship turned out to be a bit more intermittent than ideal.

I was delighted after signing up to work at Holyrood PR in Edinburgh for the  month of August.  But about four weeks before I was due to start I had to advise them I wouldn’t be able to make the first week, as it clashed with a holiday with my girlfriend (It was a big step for us, but went very well, you’ll be happy to hear).

But come Monday the 8th of August I was ready to work as hard as I could for the rest of the month to make up for my lost week…

My intentions to put in the graft and aims to impress were on track through  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. But disaster struck when I fell ill  on Thursday and was bedridden with a hard case of the man-flu, an ailment 50% of the population will just never understand.

Two weeks into my internship, I’d completed just three days of work. Ooyah.

In fairness, they were busy, event packed days. But worse was still to come. It turns out week three was also a write off – as I’d signed up with my team mates for a major cycle race in Le Mans France.

While the event itself was a  24 hour cycle race, once travel and other commitments were factored in, it meant I needed to make my apologies to the Holyrood PR team once again – and excuse myself for the entire week.

 

Group photo on Le Mans track during week off from Holyrood PR
Group photo on Le Mans track during week off from Holyrood PR

Fresh Start

Okay, Monday the 22nd would be my fresh start. I was determined to get in and make a great impression for what remained of my placement.

If only that had been the case. It turned out that Monday was neither ‘fresh’ nor a ‘start’ for me.

A certain someone (Aye – that’s you, Lewis McAulay, blood type O+ from Fairlie, North Ayshire!), promised a Monday morning return.

Turns out what he actually meant was Monday evening. In fact,  late Monday evening … with most of Monday spent in a van between two large men driving back to Scotland from Portsmouth.

Did I say Monday? I meant Tuesday – only 23 days into the month, Tuesday would be my big day!

I really thought I would get an email back telling me not to come in on the Tuesday, but instead Chris messaged me saying it wasn’t a problem and that he would see me on Tuesday morning.

Fresh Start 2.0

I walked in relatively anxious, and very tired from the race and travelling but I was greeted as if they had seen me there every Monday morning with the age old office greeting of ‘smile, nod and back to the desktop’. That was exactly what I needed and put my mind at ease, I sat down and opened my emails to see: “Welcome back, how was the race?” and similar pleasant headers on the other emails from the staff at Holyrood PR. They were followed by guidance on picking up from where I left off.

It says a lot about a company which is so flexible and pleasant to an intern. The time I have had at Holyrood PR I haven’t felt used, I have felt worked and that is exactly what you want from an internship – okay you aren’t part of the “team” per se, you are here to learn, but you really do feel involved in the business itself and because of that I found myself clocking off at 5pm and still continuing to think about new ideas for blog posts for different clients.

At Holyrood PR you are encouraged to work and learn and the harder you work the more experience you gain, and for me the experience I have gained from my intermittent time has been invaluable.

Some Advice

I guess if I was to pass on some words of advice to my successor it would be, don’t worry about it too much – they aren’t expecting you to be perfect, you’re here to learn. Work hard, type lots and if you manage run out of things to do then

A – you’re working faster than I was;
B – ask for more work.

Be confident, whether talking on the phone to the Daily Mail or Kevin from Bield, on the other side is just another person the same as you.

Oh and don’t roll up your trousers, the Holyrood PR team are merciless when it comes to mocking exposed mankles here.

If you are looking for a challenge in the world of PR then look no further and learn from the experts with Holyrood PR’s internship.

I’d like to thank the Holyrood PR team for bearing with me through holidays, illness and endurance events. Far from holding it against me, the team were fantastically understanding and supportive.

Despite the interruptions I really feel I finished on a high – and wish I’d managed to get the full month under my belt.

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