Warning to any future public relations intern….an internship with Holyrood PR is highly infectious

By Alice Ferguson

I CAN’T quite believe I am writing my final intern blog already. These last four weeks have absolutely flown by and the experience I have gained from working with the Holyrood PR team has been truly beneficial and enjoyable.

After being out of the office for most of my first week, my next three have all been office based which has been a great insight into the day to day workings of a PR company.

My days have consisted of newspaper sweeps in order to unearth any newsworthy stories and client coverage, uploading posts onto the Holyrood website, calling news desks to pitch or follow up on stories and writing press releases, media coverage reports and blog posts.

With each day, I feel I have grown in confidence with every new task and, I am proud to say, my struggles with platforms such as WordPress, Photoshop and Hootsuite have somewhat vanished! Although I am definitely not a computer expert just yet, for someone who was a complete technophobe before my time at Holyrood, I see this as a great accomplishment.

Making Contacts

Initially apprehensive about calling up clients and journalists, I have really loved chatting to a variety of different people in order to get a great story. Talking to people over the phone is a great way to build relations and ensure a client focus. Everyone I have spoken to have been interesting, friendly and more than willing to talk which has made writing press releases easier and fun.

This is one of the great things about an internship at Holyrood PR; the variety of clients, whether in care, property or food and drink, mean that you will write a range of stories and will never be bored. Whether it be writing about the opening of a care home pub, the trialling of a virtual reality headset for patients at Edinburgh Children’s Hospital, or a visit from two cute therapy ponies at a Dunfermline care home, I have found each one of the press releases I have been tasked to write thoroughly interesting and enjoyable.

Digging Out Stories

One of the major highlights from my four week internship is how I have got an all round taste of what a career in PR entails. Each member of the Holyrood PR team is passionate about finding great stories and injecting them with life which is pretty infectious. Thanks to them, I no longer simply read a paper or scroll through Facebook; any news worthy story I come across I start thinking how it could be shared.

I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for the releases I have written in the press. It’ll be so exciting to see my writing in the papers and show my friends and family!

What Does the Future Hold?

I graduate next week with a completely different outlook on my future than I did four weeks ago. Rather than feeling slightly worried, i.e. absolutely terrified at the prospect of entering the big bad world with very little work experience and no clear vision of what my future career could be, I now feel relieved to say I feel much more confident about my future.

I would like to thank everyone at Holyrood PR for making me feel so welcome and ensuring my experience was beneficial and interesting.

Would you like to follow in Alice’s footsteps as a public relations intern?

If so, get in touch with our team using the contact form below, with you CV attached and a few lines explaining why you feel you’d be suitable for the role: