As a current Business Management undergraduate placement year student, I often get asked ‘what do you want to do’? The answer is, I am not entirely sure. The business world is what makes me tick, I love learning about all of the different aspects of complex organisations – especially the digital and PR elements. Working for Approach PR as a Junior Account Executive, I can gladly say I am in a very fortunate position because each day is entirely unique and I am provided with a variety of tasks to undertake.
6:45
My alarm goes off and it takes me a while to come around; studying at university, I can openly admit that early mornings have not been my forte. I jump into the shower to wake myself up and then get ready to head over to Burley train station.
7:42
I arrive at Leeds station. With music blasting in my earphones I patiently wait for the next train to Ilkley and keep myself busy by checking the news to make sure I’m up to date with the current world affairs. The train arrives and it’s usually a toss-up between watching football highlights or Dragon’s Den. I love how it provides an insight into the business world and gives entrepreneurs a chance to grow.
8:30
I arrive in the beautiful town of Ilkley and head straight into M&S to buy the Telegraph and Argus for the team, the delicious smell of pastries follows me around the shop and I have to force myself to leave immediately before I end up spending all of my weekly budget on food. I take a walk around the town to get some much-needed fresh air and then head to the office.
8:45
I make my first coffee of the day to perk myself up, check my emails and then write my to-do-list.
9:00
After talking with the team, I nip down to WHSmith to collect the day’s newspapers, this is very important because it enables us to gain an understanding of the current news. We keep a sharp eye out for client coverage and today one of our recruitment clients is in the Yorkshire Post, after sharing with the team, the familiar sound of the victory bell shortly follows to celebrate! I ensure all of our progress tables are updated with the coverage.
9:30
A big part of my job is constructing social media planners, this is definitely my favourite activity to do. I have planners to complete for a wide range of clients, so I pick the highest priority and get cracking! Each planner requires different content and tone of voice, so it’s vital that I plan ahead as it enables me to maximise the potential engagement for followers.
After completing 2 planners my social media creativity needs a break! This is one of the many aspects I love about working at Approach because work can be flexible – unless a task is very urgent.
Shona, the social media pro, reads my planners and provides me with feedback and amends to make. This is a crucial part to my learning as it enables me to develop and identify on areas I could improve; I work through the edits before the final version is sent to the client for approval.
1:00
Lunchtime, my favourite part of the day as I’m a massive foodie, has been on my mind since entering the office this morning. I tend to meal prep at the start of the week to make sure I have a balanced lunch, but this is not always the case if I don’t have a big food shop in. I guess its tuna and rice again for me… sigh!
2:00
Helen, our go to person for anything to do with trade has written an amazing press release for one of our clients and it’s my job to now call/ email the journalists within the areas we have identified to target. After each point of contact I make, I then update the sell in table to keep track of feedback I have received.
3:00
Shona, Betty and Anisha have just been out of office to meet with one of our clients, I support with the social media so it’s essential the team and myself are kept up to date with developments. We arrange a meeting internally and then discuss how we are going to move forward with the client and then brainstorm a few ideas for one of the projects ahead.
3:30
New business is fundamental for facilitating the continuous growth of a company, I support with identifying potential clients and researching to support the team.
4:00
One of our kitchen clients is hosting an event to celebrate its opening and to reach out to neighbouring businesses. After receiving a brief from Anisha about the potential guestlist, it is my job to collate the details.
4:45
I finalise my day with a quick coverage check from a sell in I did earlier this week. I check my sell in table to see who we have/ haven’t received coverage from for our client and go through various online publications to see whether the press release has been of interest. I keep track of this and note down any updates, if a phone call is needed to ring the editorial team, I shall do this tomorrow morning rather than trying to catch a journalist at the end of the day.
5:00
I now pop in my earphones (once again) and make my way over to Ilkley station to hop onto a train to Leeds, what a day it’s been at the office, I’m excited for what tomorrow has in store for me.