Historians at Work: Marketing and PR – Charlotte Waldron
10th July 2024
This series of posts showcases examples of our students undertaking work experience or volunteering as part of their studies. It demonstrates the range of experiences open to them at the University of Gloucestershire, the range of possible career paths that History students have, and the transferrable skills they develop as part of their degrees. This post comes from second-year student Charlotte Waldron, who undertook a placement in a marketing and PR company.
In the second semester of my second year, I went to APT Marketing and PR in Cheltenham to complete my 60-80 hours placement. I chose to do my placement at APT because I wanted to get a hands-on experience in public relations and I wanted to understand what skills are needed for a career in this field. I was able to expand my skill set and adopt many new techniques to help my future career. The skills I have learnt are invaluable and have set a brilliant base understanding of public relations and marketing. Throughout my time at APT I was given a range of tasks, all focusing on certain skills needed to succeed in PR and I definitely became more confident in my work over-time.
From the first day at APT I was given tasks with high levels of responsibility. I was tasked with creating social media posts, content calendars, blog posts and professional emails to general databases. A lot of my work was used and posted online which was very helpful as it kept me motivated and showed I could do the tasks I was given to a high standard. When working with many different clients I struggled with switching between tones of voice to begin with, but being able to change between tones of voice is an important skill I needed to develop. I was able to develop my researching skills, which have already been utilised within my degree, when creating content for Printwaste. I was on the firewalk program for a local Cheltenham charity CCP. Over the course of 3 weeks, I had to create social media posts promoting the firewalk and encouraging people to contribute. Here is something I created:
I was given a lot of support and guidance throughout my placement. Not only was I taught skills I need for a career in PR, but I also learnt a lot by being in an office surrounded by people doing PR and bouncing ideas off of each other. By listening to conversations going on in the office I picked up on valuable little tips that I wouldn’t have learnt elsewhere. My placement has shown me that experience is key in this field and although getting a relevant Master’s degree would be helpful, it is not imperative. I have been in contact with local motorcar companies through APT which has been immensely helpful and I am hoping to start and unpaid internship with Forge Motorsport in September.