Top five tips on how to make the most of your work experience with a PR and marketing agency

This month will mark two years since I came to Chapter II for a one-week work experience during my final year of university. Fast forward to now, and I have been working as a PR and marketing executive for Chapter II for a year and nine months (and counting!).

With my second anniversary fast approaching, I wanted to share my top five tips on maximising your work experience opportunities to benefit your career in the long run. If you’re a student graduating in the next year or two, take a look at all the things I wish I’d known. 

1. Don’t go for any and every opportunity sent your way 

It can be so tempting to just throw yourselves into any opportunity you get, because the more the merrier, right? At the end of the day, there is no such thing as too much experience. However, I find this can actually become counterproductive to the value you get out of your placement. 

Sometimes, if you focus your time and quality of work to fewer places that are more aligned to what you actually want to do, you have a much higher chance of not only getting a placement but also being able to put your all into it when you go. Chapter II was the only work experience I did at university and because of that, I was motivated to apply myself fully to it, and make the most of my one chance. 

2. Don’t be scared to be honest about what you know and don’t know

Honesty is the best policy, and that absolutely applies when it comes to getting the most out of your placements. It’s a great idea to have an open conversation at the start of your placement on what you’re good at, what you want to learn more of and what you have never even heard of before. 

Not only does this humanise you a little bit, but it also means you can get real value out of your time by learning something new. Who knows, it could even become your favourite part of your future career. I’d never even written a press release before Chapter II, and now it’s a huge part of my everyday working life. 

3. Push yourself out of your comfort zone!

One of my biggest tips is to just put your all into it, even if it feels hard or awkward. It’s completely normal to feel nervous when you go somewhere new, but just try to remember everyone in that room will have been in your position before. 

If you can push yourself to speak up a little bit, make yourself useful and ask questions when you’re stuck, it can make the biggest difference between getting a great reference, or even a future job, or not. 

4. Find a way to demonstrate that you are learning 

Even if this is just for yourself, make a list at the end of the day of everything you’ve completed and learnt. At the end of a placement, the days can all blur into one, and sometimes you might forget different software you’ve had a go on, clients you’ve worked on or skills you’ve developed.

This can be really helpful for many reasons. One of them is that during your placement, you can make sure you are getting value out of it by recapping what you are actually learning every day. If you’re struggling to think of things to write, it could be a sign you need to evaluate how you’re working. Secondly, it is great to keep handy when it comes to CV writing or interviewing, in case any of the things you learnt become useful for your future job. 

5. Use it as a chance to figure out where you want to go 

The biggest advantage of work experience is that it is a hands-on opportunity to learn what you like to do and where you want to go. The more you apply yourself in real-life settings, the more it can give you a glimpse into your future career.

Even if you didn’t enjoy your placements, that is still really valuable information for narrowing down what you truly want to do. Once you’ve narrowed down your skills a bit more on placements, it can also be much easier when it comes to interviews to be confident that you know how to apply your knowledge practically. 

If you are looking for work experience opportunities in PR, marketing, design or videography, get in contact with us today at hello@chapterii.agency