The time flew by. Before I knew it, my first month at Progress was over. Moving from two or three days a week in a lecture hall to five days in an office was a substantial change. Among my friends, this was what we called a “proper grown-up job”. But what did that first job in PR actually involve?
A year earlier, I had been buried in textbooks, trying to finish the semester successfully. My first month at the agency was a reality check. After years of preparation, it was time to put things into practice.
From theory to everyday tasks
At first, I found it difficult to recognise the material I had studied in my daily work. Uses and gratifications theory and multivariate regression in SPSS seemed a long way from the tasks in front of me.
Instead, I was monitoring the news, preparing briefings, newsletters and coverage reports, and packing press kits. I also helped at a Microsoft Christmas event to make sure things ran smoothly.
It was a different way of learning: understanding the work by taking part in it.
Learning the language of agency life
At university, keeping up with the latest slang had sometimes felt important. At work, I found myself learning a new set of professional terms.
Gradually, the language used by Progress and its clients began to feel familiar. I had already created several “decks”, and writing this article meant producing my first “WHOB”, the Dutch abbreviation for the agency’s “What’s on our minds” blog.
Finding my feet
I was happy to adapt, and I was enjoying the work. There was something valuable about being immersed in agency life and learning the profession by doing it.
This account was first published in November 2014. For more practical reflections on starting out, read our five tips for beginning a career in PR or meet the Progress team.
Kinyi
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