In August, Kaitlin joined the Refresh team for some work experience. As part of Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter’s Good Employment Week, we launched a paid placement initiative to give the next generation of PR pros the chance to gain experience in Tech PR and marketing. In this blog, Kaitlin tells us what she has learned during her 5 days with us.
This week I worked on all sorts of different activities from creating social media posts, and creating content, to filling out databases and joining in with team activities such as the Sands brunch.
My week at Refresh…
On Monday, I was made to feel very welcome and started the week by getting involved with the whole agency meeting. It was interesting to observe how tasks are delegated, the way the week is arranged and how the agency communicates. Later on, I spent five minutes with each member of the agency learning all about their roles which was great for many reasons, the main one being that it was such a good way to help me get settled in on the first day and instantly taught me things about the industry.
Then it was time to get on with the social media takeover, so if you keep up to date with Refresh’s socials then you will have definitely seen me A LOT. Later in the day, I was given training on how to use Canva and showed how to create graphics for social media which was so much fun! It was great to get creative and immediately gain experience. Lastly, I joined the innovation hub where the team comes up with new, creative PR and marketing ideas for their clients. I loved to see how everyone brainstorms and how ideas form to make plans.
My second day started with exploring upcoming awareness days that the team could use for an exciting client campaign. It was really interesting to get an insight into how awareness days can be used in PR and marketing. Plus, I love doing anything that includes organising, so this was right up my street! Later in the day, I was briefed on a few tasks to support the Heating Installer Awards team.
Wednesday began with a personal branding masterclass with Lucy, Refresh’s associate director, I was taught all things LinkedIn to help further my career and was shown how Refresh uses LinkedIn for client campaigns. I even set up my own LinkedIn account and connected with the Refresh team! Lucy let me in on all the tips and tricks, such as what times are best to post (Tuesday to Thursday 8am to 11am if you’re wondering) and what type of post gets the most engagement. In the afternoon, I was provided with further training, this time focusing on how to create impactful videos for social media, for example, one that can build employer brand.
It’s my penultimate day and I can’t believe how fast the week has gone! On Thursday, I continued drafting social media posts and started work on a ‘day in the life’ reel so keep your eyes on Refresh’s Instagram for that one! We also had a team brunch to raise money for Sands, Refresh’s charity of the year! Later on in the day, I was briefed on exploring influencers who might be interested in collaborating with a client that is keen to start working with influencers.
For Friday, I completed this blog you’ve been reading (and enjoying!) and wrapped up a few of the things I’ve been working on this week.
It has been amazing to gain some first-hand experience in the PR and marketing world here at Refresh, and I am very grateful for the opportunity! As you can see, it’s been a really varied week, but creating and writing content has been my favourite task of the week. Altogether, it has been an insightful week and it was so great to meet everyone at Refresh.
If you’re interested in a career in Tech PR and marketing, visit our careers page, or get in touch at careers@refreshpr.co.uk