Experiential Marketing Executive Intern Review

The work placement with PRUK was one of a kind! It was a great intro to the demands of a professional role, and it was amazing to be surrounded by a team with such a wealth of knowledge and industry experience. This role in particular, although a very sociable role, was pretty demanding at times, but the spirit within the team made it all very manageable and always enjoyable. As someone from outside of London, this was also an amazing personal experience, as the role allowed me to experience much of the amazing aspects that London has to offer!

The nature of the role means that there isn't much room for error, so it took a while for me to build my experience and confidence in order to take on my own independent tasks and projects, but once I was able to I felt a sense of dependence from the team, which was really confidence boosting. I rarely ever felt the sense of being "the intern", which is really refreshing.

I had weekly 1-1's with my manager, and we kept in regular contact throughout the week too. My manager was very approachable and always provided support if I expressed that I needed it. She also went above and beyond, and even supported me with my Uni work and general life advice! As there was projects and events taking place all over London and the wider UK, it meant that my manager wasn't always able to be around in the office, which sometimes could mean that it was more difficult to get in touch with her, but this wasn't too much of an issue as the team is very close-knit and I was always able to rely on other members of the team for support if my manager wasn't available.

No day is the same! Sometimes you can spend weeks in the office, attending meetings and creating presentations, and other times you can be working on 3 different events in one week! This role, at times, could be quite demanding, especially on the lead up to the event and the day of the event. When big events come around, the team can be pretty stretched and everyone does go above and beyond to get stuck in and ensure it's a success, so this can mean long, tiring days, and sometimes can be physically demanding so will leave you feeling like you've done a workout! I personally really enjoyed attending the events that we worked on, but in order to write a fair review it is important to note that the role demands that you give up some evenings and weekends to help out at the events. The team are usually pretty good with allowing you to have this time back in lieu / days working from home.

It took some time to build up my knowledge and confidence before taking on large amounts of responsibility, but by the end of my placement I had planned, organised and delivered my own event, and I was also responsible for various independent projects within the team, such as publishing the team newsletter and I also looked after the POS ordering process. By the end of my placement I definitely felt like a valued member of the team.

The role itself has allowed me to understand more about events management, which is a module that I will be studying in my final year. Also, every couple of months the whole Marketing team came together to discuss important updates (marketing updates, industry updates etc), and this was really useful in widening my marketing knowledge and demonstrated how the topics I had studied at University were considered in the workplace. There were also some external presenters. I found the presentations on digital marketing of particular interest, and this has motivated me to seek out opportunities at University to learn more about this field.

The office was professional, but also pretty relaxed. The company boast a 'mindful' work space, which meant it was peaceful so you were able to concentrate on completing work, but lighthearted conversation was still welcomed, so there was a good balance. There were areas which could cater to most needs - plenty of meeting rooms; sociable breakout spaces; spacious desk areas.

When arriving (at the very start of August), this was a very busy time for my team, which meant that a lot of events/projects were already in full swing, so it was difficult for me to get up to speed on these, which meant that I was given smaller, more manageable tasks due to the little knowledge that I had on the projects. At first, this felt slightly underwhelming, as they seemed like admin roles, but once I had been in the role for 6 months or so I could appreciate that it was important for me to build up my experience within the role before taking on too much. The team were good at making roles clear - when we were given a project work was always divided up so you knew exactly what areas you were responsible for. Progress was tracked in the form of quarterly reviews, which was goo for setting out aims and objectives for the year.

You are regularly invited to training sessions and are encouraged to discuss with your manager the areas that you would like to develop. I expressed to my manager that I wanted to develop my digital skills, as it seemed to go hand in hand with the role. My manager helped me organise meeting with the digital team, and also organised projects that would allow me to put these skills into practice. My manager was also very supportive with the Uni work that I had to do alongside my placement. She agreed to review my work and even came along to one of my graded presentations with me - this was a massive help and I really appreciate the time and effort that she invested in ensuring I achieved a good grade.

Sadly, the company doesn't offer a 'next step' from an Undergraduate role to a Graduate role, but there are a number of employees who now work for the company who were once placement students, so I believe if you impress and keep in contact with your team/the wider company, that there are opportunities there.

The placement students all became very close, which was really nice as it was like a support system with people in the same position as you! The company did arrange some social events amongst the placement students, but I think the friendships were mainly formed amongst ourselves, and we spent a lot of time together outside of work.

When searching for somewhere to live, Chiswick was completely out of my price range, so I had to look a bit further, which meant I had an hour commute to get to the office (which I believe is pretty normal when living in London!) There's a lot to do on the business park, and there's always events and activities that are free of charge. There are a number of delis and restaurants on the park, which are slightly more expensive then usual, but won't break the bank.

There wasn't much of a nightlife in Chiswick, there's a few pubs which can be fun, especially on a Friday after work as a lot of people tend to congregate at the local pubs, but it only takes about 30 mins on the tube to get into London, so possibilities are endless!

There were a number of different social clubs, like football, running club, book club, mindfulness sessions etc. A few of which I did get involved in and were really fun! There's also always activities on the business park, so that's good to enjoy whilst on your lunch break! There's always a lot going on.