I’m Eva, I’m 15 years old and I am currently taking part in some work experience here at Athene. I really enjoy writing reports and blogs, so I was very excited to experience working in public relations.
I have learned so far that it differs quite a lot from the world of journalism. I have been in the office during GCSE and A level results weeks, so I have been given the opportunity to draft press releases for Athene’s education clients and schools who were receiving their results. I drafted templates for individual schools as well as multi-academy trusts, and I sent these to the education team to check and support me in improving them. I learnt quickly that you don’t need to overhype the story in a press release as it can be a journalist’s pet hate.
A Level results week was very exciting – especially with the changing political headlines around exam results. I had to do plenty of research and keep the team up to date with the ever-changing headlines. We would receive the information from schools about their top achievers and insert it into the press releases and send them to the press to get as much media coverage as possible. I spent both results days scouring the papers to see which schools’ results had been covered in the press. It was thrilling to see new articles pop up everywhere, some of which I wrote the templates for!
During my second week, I also had the chance to get involved in the PR for some of Athene’s other clients. I wrote a press release about one client’s new relationship with a charity, which involved a lot of research into what the charity supported. I also wrote an audit for the website and social media accounts of another charity. I found this incredibly interesting, as vocabulary and tone of voice are my favourite things to experiment with in my writing.
I really enjoyed seeing how different types of information shared by the charity shaped their public image and reputation. I never thought that PR agencies, like Athene, and communication played such an important role in forming public opinions.
I also asked some of the team members about their education and qualifications as I am always trying to gather information about paths I can take towards a writing-based career. I enjoyed hearing about the universities and courses the team attended, and I have come away with new and exciting ideas about what and where I can study in my own life.
My experience at Athene has been incredibly fascinating. I have learnt new things every day about how the world of PR and media works and enjoyed listening to the career and education choices of members of the team with similar interests to me.
Everyone at Athene has made me feel welcome and engaged, and I would love the opportunity to come back and spend more time in such a captivating environment.
Eva Woods