“Chris, you live in a bubble!” they jokingly laughed after I consciously missed an entire conversation about The Guardian potentially going out of print. They were right though; before I joined apt I had hardly read a newspaper, meaning I had almost no knowledge of current affairs or even what was going on around me.
What I did know though… is I wanted to work in public relations!
Now after a 30 week placement, I have secured a strong portfolio of coverage across many exciting brands, including a national newspaper supplement and several well-known glossies.
During my time at apt, I had the opportunity to gain first-hand experience, I worked on live projects and even managed the full publicity for 2 accounts. Like many of the interns will agree, apt throws you in at the deep end; I was juggling multiple tasks and clients from day one, which meant I was able to learn about the world of public relations quickly.
Each day is different, one minute you can be selling an adrenaline motorcycle holiday feature to a travel editor, the next, discussing new ways to promote an upcoming interior style director. It was apparent from the moment I walked into this lively office, that these are people who are passionate about their job and the brands they represent. Energy filled the room every time apt won a new client or an interesting news story broke.
An important lesson I have personally learnt is that, in PR, you need to just throw your ideas out there. There is not always an exact way to do something which means it is often the most spontaneous individuals that succeed. With the ever expanding media world, it is often the PR that jumps on an idea or a story first that gains the coverage.
This placement has been such an awakening and I feel the skills I have learnt here will be invaluable when approaching graduate schemes and my future career in PR.
I would like to thank everyone at apt for this fantastic and highly beneficial experience as well as helping me take a step closer to fulfilling my ambition of being the next Max Clifford!