My PR Dream with Mackie’s Ice Cream

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Find out what makes this PR internship unique

My PR Dream with Mackie's Ice Cream | Holyrood PR

By Catherine Leask

UPON GRADUATING in PR and media I had a summer full of questioning whether further education or going straight into a job was the right next move for me.

So when I had the opportunity through my uni to become the first candidate in the new long-term funded placement with Holyrood PR, I realised I had the perfect opportunity to do both.

I’m able to specialise through my studies in international marketing, whilst gaining hands on experience in the fast-paced PR world.

Although a six month placement seemed a long time to sign up to alongside my studies, it couldn’t be going any quicker, now almost two months in. Coming from a non-morning person, I’ve always woken up excited to come into Holyrood, check through my emails and see what my tasks are for the day.

So far I have:

  • Created graphics and video content for Mackie’s of Scotland’s social media
  • Written content for Bield and CALA Homes
  • Carefully curated, planned and scheduled social posts
  • Reported on social media insights
  • Carried out research for a future Jerba Campervans’ project
  • Logged media coverage, seeing measurement and evaluation in practice
  • Created a video to celebrate our storytelling success for Nira Caledonia and its split-bill policy

With a wide range of work experience in PR and marketing, each of my placements has been different – but what has made Holyrood PR unique?

While the team acknowledge that you’re just beginning your PR career and don’t expect you to be a PR pro, they are also great at recognising what you ARE good at.

It can often be frustrating as an intern being treated as if you know minimum, rather than being asked about your interests, if you have skills that aren’t being utilised. However, the team at Holyrood praised my video and photoshop skills and on my first day I was involved in editing a video for Mackie’s social media. The responsibility and trust in my skills made me feel immediately more valuable to the team.

Instead of being randomly assigned tasks, Holyrood have given me focus clients to work on and a personally shaped training plan which will really help with my career and what I want to take away from my experience.

The team are really helpful and supportive in briefing me on tasks and importantly, taking the time to give me feedback on how to improve, which I really value!

The client range is varied and surprising. I love the fun, creative freedom of Mackie’s Ice Cream and Jerba Campervans (who doesn’t love ice cream and travel?!), but equally the clients in property and care have been as interesting in ways I hadn’t considered previously.

I’m really looking forward to my upcoming months with Holyrood PR, seeing projects come to fruition and continuing to develop my knowledge and skills, growing my confidence for a successful career in the communications world.

Find out more about our PR internship opportunities:

While Catherine was the successful candidate on a new longer-term internship, we do have opportunities in 2020 for the stars of the future to join us for a few weeks to get hands-on experience.

If you’re interested, please complete the form below or email your CV to info@holyroodpr.co.uk

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