Sandra Akyeampong-Asante has been at firstlight for the past six weeks, on an internship through The Taylor Bennett Foundation. She talks about what she’s learnt from her time here.
Over the last six weeks, I have thoroughly enjoyed working as a PR intern at firstlight group. As my time here at firstlight draws nearer to the end, let’s review some of the fundamental competencies that I have developed along the way.
Planning:
We have all heard the phrase “fail to prepare, prepare to fail”. This quote could not be more relevant within the public relations and communications industry to ensure positive media relations. High levels of preparation in advance are required to successfully maintain relationships between different clients and co-ordination within the workplace. At this point, I have lost count of how many times I have created media lists, drafted editorial calendars and updated coverage trackers- the list goes on! Although these tasks were quite time consuming, they were essential to ensure positive outcomes of press releases, sell-ins and pitches.
Media Monitoring:
Breaking news just in – regularly reading articles from across national and trade publications is vital! Catching up on all the latest headlines and insider scoops helped me comprehend how the news directly impacted clients and I gained extensive insight on each client’s specific field. A personal favourite of mine was researching all the latest news stories on the extreme weather crisis while working on the Climate Crisis Advisory Group (CCAG) account.
Teamwork:
At firstlight, team work truly does make the dream work. The public relations and communications industry is incredibly fast paced which can be quite challenging. However, I really loved working within a collaborative environment in order to hear others share their own unique perspectives and insights. A highlight of my internship was joining brainstorm sessions with my knowledgeable colleagues for clients such as Tink and CreativeX.
Goodbye for Now
Well, that’s a wrap from me and I hope to utilise the invaluable skills that I have developed at firstlight into navigating a successful career in this industry.
