My Two Week Placement at OPR
I have been on a work placement at OPR for two weeks now and can honestly say it’s the best PR placement I’ve been on. I’ve been doing work experience at different places on and off since I graduated in English Literature last year and have done a wide variety of placements; long and short, the good and the bad.
I knew I wanted to go into PR and that my degree had given me some pretty useful skills. I also knew however that there were not that many jobs out there, let alone entry-level ones which said they wanted at least a year or two’s experience!
I had limited experience of working in any sort of working environment outside the library, so along with a part-time bar job to tide me over (as most placements are unpaid) I set about arranging placements that I hoped would help me get a job.
I learnt many skills at other placements that have really helped me and the connections that you get from working at different agencies give invaluable contacts.
At OPR you are really given the opportunity and encouragement to pursue the areas you find most interesting or useful. You feel like you’re really using the skills you have and it’s not all making cups of tea, although they do come in useful.
The office is really fast-paced and no two days are the same. It’s a small team so you feel as if you are really helping people with their clients.
I have really enjoyed the writing side and am excited to see the coverage for clients I have worked on.
I was keen to perfect my press release writing as I hadn’t had much training on this before. At OPR you don’t just write a draft and never see it again, you get told what you need to change and make the changes yourself until its right, or they will make changes and talk you through it if they’re on a deadline.
Hopefully the job will come soon, but in the meantime doing work experience is helping me advance my skills and is definitely worth doing, especially if you find an agency like OPR.
Selina Young
