I am now three months into my very enviable five month summer break, after completing my first year at Liverpool John Moore’s University. I am studying a BA degree in History and English which allows a variety of career paths to be opened up to me and PR particularly stands out as a career I might like.  So with all this time on my hands I thought why not give PR a whirl and with Core’s impeccable reputation throughout Birmingham, who else better to come to, to have an insight into the world of PR (and beyond…)

As this was my first work placement, I walked into the bright and friendly Core office with an open mind. Eager to see what awaited me and secretly hoping it wasn’t too scary, Dan Hill explained to me what I would be doing for the next couple of days. One of Core’s clients is Birmingham Science Park Aston (BSPA) and I was given the task of writing a press release on one of their female entrepreneurs.  Although I knew what a press release was, I was ignorant to what actually ‘made’ a press release and despite Dan talking me through the format of writing a press release and providing me with examples, it still took me a few attempts to get the style right. Alongside enjoying writing the press release, I was also interested in researching the background behind what I was writing about.

During my time working alongside the Core team, I sat in on a monthly client meeting. Although I did not understand a lot of what was being discussed, it allowed me to gain a very clear insight into the world of PR. What I took away from this meeting, is how engaged the Core team are with their clients and just how much work they are constantly doing to ensure they are up -to -date with their client knowledge.

I also worked on a press release with Lucie Sissons, which was to announce the finalists of the Chamberlain Awards 2011. Writing these press releases proved easier as I could use what I had learnt from the working on the BSPA one, however, I now had to find a balance in my writing in order to produce a blog on the Chamberlain Awards. As I am used to writing in a formal style, as part of my degree, I was forced to go out of my comfort zone, to allow my writing to be more ‘chatty’.

On the Monday (no they hadn’t scared me off) I went on a site visit with Lucie and Charlotte Crossley and although I don’t want to see another showroom for a very long while, the viewings gave me good background knowledge of the client. It also gave me the opportunity to understand what Lucie and Charlotte gained from the site visits and what questions they had to ask.

I was given the chance to work with Richard Clews (aka Clews) and his creative team, in which I was given a project of my own. I created a mailer, which personally I am very proud of, but I would just like to thank Clews for his patience as I attempted to use the very complex Adobe InDesign programme. Although I am happy with the end result, I don’t think I’ll be in any hurry to return to InDesign as it’s just a tad too complicated for my liking.

I seriously underestimated all the work that goes on behind the scenes. When it was explained to me about everything that has to be done before and after a job is completed, using the bespoke Core Operations programme, it really hit me just how hard everyone works.  I have had a truly insightful experience and it has been both interesting and enjoyable to have been able to try my hand at all the different aspects of Core. This experience certainly hasn’t ruled out PR as a career for me and I would like to say thank you to the entire Core team for having me.