My Golden Experience at Holyrood PR

My month as an Intern at Holyrood PR

By Maj Meah

AFTER completing this internship at Holyrood PR, I can say with confidence PR is a career I would like to pursue!

Usually, Interns at Holyrood write a blog in their first or second week. However, I started interning during a busy time for Holyrood PR, which means breaking from tradition and writing my blog in my final week. So without further ado, I present you with my reflections and recommendations for any future interns considering the program.

How did I get here?

Just before completing my fourth year at University, I felt the theory by itself was not enough to have me equipped for the fierce competition I may possibly face when applying for jobs. I felt high quality experience was essential to get my foot in the door.

By chance, speaking to my colleague at university who I rarely made contact with, he advised I email Holyrood PR and with a quick Google search I discovered they were exactly what I was looking for – An Award Winning PR Agency in Edinburgh. I emailed them immediately and after a quick meeting with the Account Director Brian Lewis, my four weeks was booked into the trusty Holyrood Calendar.

My first few days consisted of thoroughly reading the ‘Intern bible’ and uploading press releases onto the websites, which set the scene and gave me a good understanding of how the systems at Holyrood work.

For the rest of the week I was writing blogs, uploading the impressive coverage onto the website, tweeting about client competitions, scanning through newspapers for weekly features and was given various other interesting tasks to help members of the team.

There are daily team meeting that I attended, which really helped make me feel part of the team. These mainly focus on the client work needing delivered but pop culture, diet, calories and favourite films are also common features.

Busy, busy, busy!

Overall, my first week was very enjoyable, productive and gained tons of experience – I even tweeted about it!

From my second week on the workload ramped up and my days were busy busy busy!

My last three weeks consisted of chasing up press releases sent to media and newspaper agencies such as The BBC and The Scotsman to name but a few. This involved a lot of phone calls to journalists which I feel were beneficial practice.

I also uploaded press releases onto the website, tweeted, wrote media coverage pieces, took part in meetings, ordered newspapers, promoted competitions and called radio stations. Sarah Fairley, Digital Account Executive, helped me along and was very supportive.

However, the biggest task I was appointed was working alongside Brian, and Chris Fairbairn, recently promoted to Account Executive, in helping organise a high profile event on behalf of two clients Cityfibre and Commsworld.

I worked hard compiling a list of industry leaders in Edinburgh, called and emailed CEO’s, IT Directors, management and more – inviting them all to a huge not to be missed event, which would see the launch of Edinburgh as a Gigabit City.

It was a satisfying feeling to see the overall responses with over 100 guests attending on the night. Chris and Brian were very supportive and always took the time out to answer any questions I had. It’s not a project I will forget in a hurry!

Golden experience

Although there were some interesting debates on high level topics such as how people should eat a Kit Kat, the stand out thing I noticed at Holyrood PR was how driven and down to earth team are. All nine of them, including the owners Scott and Raymond, were very friendly and it was a pleasure to work with them.

I have experienced and learnt so much not only about the PR industry, but also about myself and my future goals and aspirations. I feel this experience has given me a push and has provided me with tools necessary when applying and working for a PR company.

My biggest recommendation to any future intern is to grasp every opportunity offered!

Even though it may sound cheesy, I will miss coming into the office. However, I can say I will be leaving with a big Holyrood smile knowing I have gained golden experience from this top Edinburgh PR agency.