Public Relations and Marketing Intern Review

I absolutely loved my placement at HiT, I was given the authority to work in my own way which made me feel really appreciated. The work I was given held more responsibility than some of my peers work at other companies. It was also close to the things I was studying at uni, meaning that I was putting my degree to test as well as learning new things that I will be able to take back to my final year and will hopefully make me more employable when I leave.

I felt immensely valued by my colleagues, those I worked directly with would ask for my opinions on things so I definitely wasn't just the coffee maker and note taker. I was involved in the charity and fun teams which helped me to get to know more of my colleagues across departments, this helped me get to know various people and meant that I knew there were people there who I could chat to that weren't on my team. I eventually got to know most people working for HiT and they are all genuine nice people who gave me such a warm welcome and an amazing send off.

I had two managers over my time at HiT as I was kept on longer than originally planned but on a different team in the same role. My second manger wasn't based in the office but made sure we had plenty of catch ups and made me feel like I could got o her for anything and I did including asking for extra work. My first manger supported me immensely whilst I was in both roles, she is an amazing role model and friend who taught me so much and supported me at every opportunity making sure that I was involved in every opportunity that could potentially benefit me not only at HiT but also going forward in my potential career. HiT in general provided me with plenty of opportunities to further myself.

PR in general is a very different from day to day, so whilst there were times that were very busy when we were planning for a specific activation, whilst there were other times that the flow of work was a little less. However, when it was a little quieter I knew I could go to my manager and ask for more work and she would always have something for me.

I was made the point person on numerous campaigns as well as for different agencies. I was also given the authority to create my own campaigns, run my own meetings and be the first point of contact between a journalist and the company. Being the first point of contact also meant that I would personally evaluate whether the issue would need to be raised higher or I could handle it.

I 100% developed skills that will help me in the continuation of my degree and beyond, working here helped me apply things that I may have previously learnt but didn't fully understand until HiT. It also taught me completely new things that I would never have been able to have learnt at university. As a subsidiary of Mattel they also offer self improvement programmes such as productivity and leadership, the ones I attended where very interesting.

HiT do many things to get the office together, which makes for a very friendly and open office. The first Wednesday of every month is breakfast club, one department will take their turn in organising breakfast food / drink for the whole office with some sort of activity, usually including a prize. They also celebrate various celebration days including both countrywide and company specific such as Barbie's birthday.

All communication before the placement started arrived in plenty of time and any questions were answered relatively quickly making for a very comfortable lead up. Once I joined there were a few meetings already set up in my diary so that I could get to know a few processes before being thrown blindly in. I was given multiple inductions on my first day and handouts so I would know what to expect and whilst there were a couple of things I wasn't told about at first when I stumbled upon them I was immediately educated on them and how to use them going forward.

HiT obviously went into this knowing that I wasn't going to be there long, however where other companies would see this and think there is no point investing in training HiT/Mattel do invest. There were plenty of training opportunities in self improvement that they prefaced with yes you won't be here for long but this will stand you in good stead for employ-ability in the future should you wish to come back or go else where, they do champion young professionals.

There have been previous employees who have started as interns and were contacted within their final year with a job. I have been told to reach out with my availability dates should they have a role for me. Whilst there isn't a definite offer there I was given the mindset that if I reach out there may be the possibility to return if that is what I want and if I don't there are certain people who have said they would help me find employment elsewhere.

There were in work events which made it possible to socialise and there were people who I made friends with that we went out together outside of work. However, I was the only placement student within HiT which meant that I didn't get as much opportunity to socialise as the other interns in the Mattel Maidenhead office did.

There are plenty of cheap and free events to socialise at in London if you know where to look, events are often put on in Trafalgar Square. However, the actual living costs can be quite expensive if you don't budget, my rent for a single room was £640 PCM in Kentish town with G+E being roughly £20 PPPM.

Pubs were open late and offered good atmosphere and were also quite central meaning they were easy to go home from. Being in Central London meant that there was always something open withing walking distant even if we didn't book.

There was a couple of occasions while I was at HiT that there was some sort of activity outside of work, I also went on a event with the maidenhead office as my team worked across both, something that not everyone at HiT was able to do.