natalie ellen

After putting it off for god knows how long I’ve decided it’s about time I sit down and finish updating my CV.  In the first few months lectures and tutorials emphasised the importance of your CV for promoting yourself and what you can do. But how can you try to prove yourself with a few sheets of paper? I’m finding it hard to grasp the concept that somebody has to judge your work and what you could do for their company on this document. So how do I make it good enough? Answers on a postcard…

Now that I’m back up North facing the overpowering winds that Leeds unfortunately delivers, I’ve got a little bit of time to reflect on my week on placement!

By the end of the week I really felt like part of the team, I was able to use my own initiative to complete tasks and help out on other projects too.  Lucy Mayo (Head of Consumer PR) asked the consumer team to write an evaluation of my skills, thought I’d share this with whoever might fancy reading it! It’s a little bit of an ego boost to be honest but it’s not that often that you get to read a review of how you work!

• Great on the phone and really confident at selling in and speaking to journalists in general
• Extremely efficient and a fast worker
• Not afraid to ask questions if she is unsure of something, which is a good thing!
• Proactive and happy to take responsibility on tasks. Has taken ownership of the Warner titles product loan system since she has been here, and picked this up where necessary throughout the week
• Confident, keen to learn and takes in information well
• Good at spotting PR opportunities and industry news in the papers
• Good writing style
• Generally she is chatty and personable and shows an avid interest in PR. She’s integrated well into the team and it would be great to have her back if she has more placement opportunities!

I’m in London for my placement this week at Nelson Bostock! I was initially a bit apprehensive about how things were going to turn out, but it’s okay so far! My ability to find my way around London has suprised me, I’m not the best at finding my way! Getting to Bayswater tube station and seeing a sign saying “circle line disabled” provided me with a momentary feeling of panic but luckily I quickly found an alternative route. 

It’s a bit mental here, I think I forgot how laid back student life was until I was woken harshly by my alarm at ten to seven on monday morning; I can’t even remember the last time I was up that early! It’s day two working here at the office with the consumer lifestyle team and I’m already feeling tired, hope I can make it to the end of the week!!

I’ve been keeping a note of what I’ve been doing during the day to help me in writing my reflective learning log when I get back, I’ve been fairly busy (not quite as busy as everyone else), with the scariest moment yet being ringing lots of journalists to chase up some product samples. 

I’ve just got back from a meeting with the b2b team, trying to brainstorm new ideas for a campaign/stunt to raise awareness of new mobile technology which was v. interesting! Some great ideas were raised and I even managed to come up with a few ideas and questions myself!

Anyway time to join the mad swarm of Londoners rushing to get home and put their feet up!