PR agency | Aberdeen Graduate hits the capital for placement

An insight into Nadia Hassan’s whirlwind first week with our Edinburgh PR agency

PR agency photography, Nadia Hassan - PR intern

BEFORE starting my graduate placement at Holyrood PR, I had heard that no two days at a PR agency are ever the same.

Well, they’re 100% right.

I studied Public Relations at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and graduated last year (2020).

After university, I felt completely lost. It was the height of the pandemic and I had just been made redundant from my retail job.

As someone who always has a plan and was always busy with either studying or working part-time, this was a complete shock to the system.

I was desperate to kickstart my career in PR but obviously with lockdown, it was difficult to get where I wanted to be.

When things started moving again, I was determined to get some PR agency experience as this is what I was lacking.

I had heard of Holyrood PR whilst I was at university and the agency had always stuck with me. When I saw that they offered a graduate internship, I was delighted.

I drafted up my cover letter and cv and sent it over. When they offered me an interview I was over the moon. I think my mum quite enjoyed watching me jump up and down with excitement…

After an informal chat with Lucy and Emma, I was then emailed to say that I was successful and I would start in November.

The long anticipated first day came along and little old me from Aberdeen, walked through the glass doors into the Holyrood PR office.

To say I was nervous was an understatement. However, I was greeted by the lovely Lucy who gave me an office tour and introduced me to the team.

I was then presented with my first task, a success post. My imposter syndrome started to kick in heavily but I gave it my best shot and with reassurance and support from Lucy and Cameron, I got there in the end.

I’m only a week in and I’ve already gained a lot more confidence and am much more capable than I thought. As someone who struggles with press releases, I’ve realised that this is one of my favourite tasks to be given.

The HPR team have been super supportive and welcoming which made me feel at ease when carrying out tasks, that I haven’t been challenged with before. I’ve gained feedback on work which has been valuable and reassuring that I am on the right path.

I am super excited for the three weeks ahead and what I’ll be tasked with next!