Hi, my name is Molly, I’m 14 years old and I spent a week at Wild PR doing a work experience course. I was introduced to Wild PR by someone at a youth group I attend, at an event where there were some representatives of the business.
I was interested in the work they do, because I didn’t know much about marketing or anything like that, so I applied, and here we are! I think the experience will help me in future jobs and also give me an insight into the world of marketing.
Here’s what I got up to during my week:
Day 1
I got to the office early on Tuesday morning, and I was very nervous to go inside, but when I went into the office, everyone was very friendly and welcoming. Especially Ellis, who showed me around the building and got me set up on the computer.
The first thing I did was sit in on the weekly check-in meeting with everyone in the office and the people working from home via video call. It was very organised and everyone explained the projects they were working on so I wasn’t lost. I found all of the clients very interesting. One of my favourite bits about the whole work experience has been getting to know about the different businesses that work with Wild PR and what they do.
After the meeting I shadowed Mollie who showed me the outreach process, which was very interesting. Outreach is a process where she researches journalists who might be interested in the topic she was working on and sends them a press release. She did a very good job explaining and answering my questions. Then after this, Frankie and Mollie conducted a mock interview to prepare me for any future interviews. Then it was time for lunch!
After lunch I completed some personality quizzes that let Ellis understand how to help me work better and what I can do to make work easier for me. The quizzes were quite long, so when I was finished, it was time for the end of the day catch up meeting with everyone to go through what they had been working on and what they still needed to do.
Everyone was very friendly and I could tell they have a good relationship with each other. After the meeting, I logged off the computer and went home. I was very tired, even though all I had done was sit down all day!
Day 2
I got to the office early again on Wednesday and sat down at my computer. There were different people in the office this time, so it felt like the first day again. I was more relaxed this time though.
My first task was completing a training course for a social media scheduling software the team uses called Hootsuite. It was a bit confusing because there was a lot to remember, but I got used to it. Then I scheduled some more social media content on another software called Semrush, which Brianna taught me how to use. It was intimidating having even a little bit of control over something official. I took the information from the spreadsheet and pasted it into Semrush. It was actually fun, I thought it was going to be boring. When I was done, Brianna checked over what I’d done and changed some things.
After lunch, I and Ellis talked about the results of the quizzes I completed on Tuesday. The results were really accurate and it was a bit strange because everything it said was right. We talked about how my personality traits, resilience and learning style could affect me when I’m working with other people or by myself on projects at school and when I start working.
After this I completed a training course on Google Analytics. Time flew by, so when I was finished, it was time for the catch up meeting. Everyone talked about their individual projects and then Ellis asked me about what I’d been doing that day. Then it was time to go home again. I had a lot more work to do today compared to yesterday, but it was fun and I kept busy.
Day 3
I started the morning by scheduling some more social media posts on Hootsuite, which took me around an hour. It got a bit repetitive but I managed to get everything done. There were a few difficulties which I managed to sort out by myself. It was a bit scary because there were some posts I had to schedule for the same day, and when it was time for them to be posted, I searched the account and saw the post that I had scheduled. Then I started writing a blog, which was fun, because it gave me a chance to think about everything I’ve learnt in such a short time.
After lunch, I wrote my CV! I had a template that I adapted to suit me and filled out the information. It was kind of daunting, but it’s just practice for when I want to get a job. I really enjoyed everything I’ve done this week, it’s been an amazing experience and I’ve learnt a lot from some really cool people. I know that this experience will help me in my future career. I’ve had a really good time!
Day 4
The last day of my week at Wild PR flew by! My first task was to edit my blog, which Frankie helped me with. Then I wrote some social media posts to advertise the blog! Ellis had a few jobs for me to do, and afterwards, I finished the edits to my blog. It feels like I did a lot today, but I really didn’t. I sat in on a video call with Mollie, which took me up to lunchtime!
After lunch, I looked through a website, which belongs to one of Wild PR’s clients, to make sure everything worked after an update. This took me a while, and afterwards, I uploaded my blog to the Wild PR website!
I feel that I have learnt a lot over the past few days, and I met some amazing people. While I enjoyed every minute of my experience, I faced some challenges, but I knew I could ask any member of the team for help.