University student Alice Norman spent a month with us at hopwood public relations. Here’s what she thought of her time as an intern…

Before I started at Hopwood, I can honestly say I was a little lost when it came to choosing a career. Like most people doing History at uni, you reach a point when you realise that your degree really doesn’t help you chose your career path. Public Relations had been recommended to me by quite a few different people, so naturally, I started asking around. But the thing about public relations is that no one really knows what it is (no matter how many people you ask, I can guarantee you won’t get a straight answer from anyone – that’s part of the charm). So I decided to do some work experience while back home in Leicester to help me judge the true meaning of Public Relations for myself. After just four weeks, Hopwood has helped me map out my future.

Like all new interns, I had no idea what to expect. All I hoped was that my job wouldn’t entail simply fetching tea and coffee, or sitting doing research all day long – the sort of things most people do on an internship. I had no idea that I’d be writing my own press releases within the week and conducting phone interviews and organising photo shoots within two. It’s been amazing to get stuck in to all the work and actually be trusted with writing and organising. I feel like I’ve really gained an insight into the world of PR while actually managing to make a difference along the way. After a week, I was totally hooked (and was even getting used to the early mornings!) More

As winter draws in, we have to say a fond farewell to all our wonderful PR interns who have kept us bright from June to October.

Armed with tons of public relations experience from hopwood, this is what they have been getting up to since.

Daraca Lehane has returned to Leicester University to do the final year of her Media and Communications degree.

Jessica Ward, a graduate from Nottingham Trent, has successfully gone on to a new job at a PR agency.

Harriet Barker, a Masters graduate from the University of Exeter, has gone to London to chase her literary dreams working at a publishing company.

Sophie Heffernan has returned to complete her management studies degree at the University of York.

We wish them all the best for a bright future.

Daraca Lehane, a student from Leicester University joined us at hopwood public relations for four months’ work experience during the summer. Here is her story:

I decided to take up an opportunity to intern with Hopwood during the summer break after I finished my 2^nd year of university. I intended find out more about how the public relations industry works because, although we’d covered it at university, very little information was given about what goes on behind the scenes in the world of PR. Here’s what I learned while working here:

When I started back in early June this year, I had absolutely no expectations. It was the first time I had any work experience in dealing with the media so everything was very new to me. One of the first things I discovered was that PR plays a very significant role in the print media. From writing a press release, to sending it to various editors and then seeing it published; it made me realise that journalists and PR rely on each other for material and coverage. I was given the opportunity to write numerous press releases, which sometimes involved interviewing people! This was something I hadn’t done before and to see my work published in the press was very satisfying. More