Making the transition from being a student to a fully fledged graduate, and worse, job hunter, is scary and uncertain. I’m unsure whether anything can prepare you for the difficult realisation when you have your first, second, third, tenth, eleventh and twelfth job applications are rejected. However, it does get better. 
I went travelling straight after finishing Uni, partly to see the world and have a break from education and work, and partly to better my CV (I taught English to children in underprivileged schools and orphanages in Thailand). On my return home, I frantically started looking for jobs. I was very lucky and landed a placement at a Birmingham based PR agency called Voiceboxx. I started as an intern on a temporary, no pay basis. Although I enjoyed the work and gained experience of working in a smaller agency, I informed the employer that I was going to be looking for paid work during my placement. Not long after I started at Voiceboxx, I was offered a job as an Account Executive at McCann Erickson, Birmingham. I jumped at the chance, and found myself suited and booted on my first day at the largest PR agency outside London.
I’ve currently been at McCann’s for just over a month, and I’m really enjoying the challenges that working for a large PR agency entail. My month here has also reassured me that a career in PR is definitely for me.
The content of Jane’s PR course has been invaluable. During my interview for McCann, I was asked to write a press release for a new car release for Vauxhall, and luckily I had remembered the process Jane had taught us.
I believe that the Jane’s module content perfectly equipped me with the knowledge and understanding of the PR practices I‘ve needed to get me through my first month in industry. Everything from press releases, arranging events, circulating across social media channels, and liaising with journalists has cropped up over the month.
The rapid and ever-changing transition from student to employee is undeniable. I have quickly learnt that managers or team leaders won’t give you a pat on the back every time you do something well, it’s very rare you will work 9:00am till 5:30pm five days a week, and if journalists need a story written before lunchtime, it means exactly that. I have learnt that the industry is, however, an extremely exciting, fast-pace, rewarding place to work.