So what now?!

Heather and Clare have both been offered positions in two of the departments at the company which is fantastic news. Unfortunately my two chosen departments do not have a position for a grad and so no job for me. However, PA (one of my two choices) have offered me an internship with them for three months.

Therefore I will be doing a similar role as I did through out the grad scheme but for three months. The most exciting part is that I will be going back to them two weeks before the general election. Things will be extremely exciting and it will be fantastic experience! As there wasn’t any possibility of a permanent position with them this is definitely the next best thing, I wouldn’t want to be in a department where I was suited to the work.

Even if I leave Edelman at the end of the internship I will have gotten a year’s fantastic experience with the company to take me into another position, hopefully. I have begun to think about what I would like to do after the internship.

At 24 (yes ok nearly 25 *shudder*)  it’s time to begin to seriously think about where I want to focus my career and I think it will either be in Public Affairs or Sport. I am also doing a course in PR and Events which will give me further experience and skills in the industry. This together with a part time job and working at Edelman keep me extremely busy.

I’m with the Healthcare department for my final rotation and the team are really lovely – especially my pod and the two pods next to me but like Clare said the treats are vast and it is difficult to resist.

I have started cycling to and from work each day (two weeks in) and getting here for 8 and leaving a bit earlier (5 or a bit after) so that I have still worked 9 hours but the extra was at the beginning of the day. The routine is possible in the this department and due to the way my body works it is great because it gives me a break before going home to do uni work.I work better in the morning and the fresh air and lack of people on my commute puts me in a good, awake mood.

I have to say that the work at Healthcare has been extremely interesting but I prefer the type of work in PA as I am not the most scientifically minded. However it has been fantastic experience.

I have made some great friends here – especially the other interns and grads and I’m lucky enough to live near some of them. Hopefully we will keep in touch even if I do leave after the internship.

So at the moment the future is not certain – I will be looking around for positions whilst doing the internship and hopefully the next role I’m offered will be the perfect one!

The next blog I will be writing is one when I eventually manage to do a bit of travelling – but that wont be for a few years – but maybe I’ll be working on a few others in the meantime.

Overall the Graduate Scheme at Edelman has been fantastic. To have worked in each of the four departments for two months has enabled us to be immersed into teams and really get a taste of the type of work the company does. Since September Edelman have won wuite a few awards and also celebrated many pitch wins. This company if a fantastic place to be and I have received extremely positive feedback from its presence on my CV. I recommend this scheme to every potential PR!

I want to wish Maggie, Livi, Francesca, Erin, Charlotte, Louise, Natalie, Clare and Heather lots of luck with the rest of their time at the company (however long it will be), and thank everyone from all four departments and everyone whom I’ve worked with for all their support and help.

Signing off now..

I was very apprehensive going into this hardworking area of the office. I have very little political background – I only studied political history until GSCE level and a bit of political philosophy during my degree. I had become interested in UK politics during recent years as I got older and changes in government/bills began to affect my day to day life. As a country girl I was one of the many to march in Hyde Park about the hunting ban, and David Cameron is my home MP for Witney, so I was looking forward to learning more about this world.

I didn’t know what to expect in terms of work when I started three weeks ago. Clare was here before me and she told me about some of it and the clients’ accounts she worked on, but nothing prepared me. In my first week (first week of January) the buzz word was new business so I was doing lots of research into new ideas. I was also shown how to do some monitoring for press mentions about one of the clients and research for clients in the news.

PA deals with so many different aspects of client work that every day is different.

In the second week everything began to get very busy as I was asked to help with work for a new and really exciting client. I also asked if it would be possible to help on one of the new pitches and was able to do some research, so at least I can feel I helped, a bit!

With the General Election coming up there is work related to Parliament, with some work for Reed in Partnership where I was liasing with MP offices and writing biographies. David (the new intern) and I have also been asked to put together biographies to help the team in their preparation for the Election period. This is helping me to learn more and more about current UK politics and also about how the team works.

The team have been fantastic, when I came in Paul (my line manager) was on holiday and Lyndsey, Peter and Mark took care of me. When Paul came back he has helped me to get to work on some great clients and asked me who I would like to work on and if there is anything I feel I haven’t done yet.

Last night Spook challenged the office to a pub quiz – It was great fun as the  PA team are competitive and we did manage to win! No hard feelings ‘eh Marcus – but we did beat you by a little bit. Plus anyone who says there were too many PA related questions – our best rounds were Literature and Food and Drink!! It was a really good opportunity to get to know more of the team who have made me feel very welcome.

I’ve got four and a half weeks left with this team during the grad scheme and then it will be on to Healthcare (my last rotation). The new grads have started now – there are three more girls to make up a pretty good group of us, together with the interns David and Olivia (who I have met). I was very pleased that Francesca joined the grad scheme after being an intern at Corporate with me, and I wish Francesca, Erin and Maggie loads of luck.

Last week the Corporate team had the Christmas lunch – I think I was possibly the only person who left their present at home and had to rush out and buy another one. It was a great afternoon as we all hid in a pub from the snow with plenty of..water, honest.

The lovely intern at Corporate also got onto the next intake of Grads for January so I want to extend my congratulations to her – she’s been great to work with and I wish her all the luck the world.

So far whilst working for Edelman I have been in two totally different departments but I have enjoyed the challenges of all of the work. We are now halfway through the Graduate Scheme and we have done two rotations. I have been at Corporate and Digital. These teams differ in clients and type of work – for example at Digital you very rarely pick up the phone to call a jounralist.

At Corporate I have now also had the chance to work on some sport clients which has been very enjoyable, and I hope to carry on working on this in the New Year.

So, off to PA next! It will be a learning experience for me who has not studied Politics before. I have been interested in it, but as David Cameron is my home MP it is from a less objective stand point.

I  hope that everything is going well and that the teams are pleased with my work, especially as I feel I have learnt so much in the past 4 months.

I’ve now been in London for 7 months and it feels like years! Having come here in June to settle in before starting work I feel like I have gotten to know the city better (although there is so much I don’t know – the East, West and North for example!) I definitely think that I have made the right move, and although I miss home and the countryside, London is a great place to be.

I feel that within the Grad Scheme we are looked after and hopefully gaining the experience we need. I am still not sure what area of PR I would like to specialise in but I think that the next two rotations should help me to decide.

So I leave the office in 2009, when I come back it will be a new decade, possibly with a broken leg (I’ve never been skiing before!!). Have a great Christmas break everyone and a merry New Year’s!

Philip Hammond MP, the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury was speaking and it promised to be an interesting evening. This was my first opportunity to go to such an event and I jumped at the chance.

The evening started with mingling amongst the attendees; a selection of Prospective Parliamentary Candidates, some MPs and people from the city. This was a great opportunity to get the Edelman name around.

Phillip Hammond MP then gave an engaging and informative speech about the current financial situation, which was very well received. As Edelman has a host of clients in the financial sector, the talk was obviously of key interest to us.

As well as providing an excellent talk, the City Circle was a wonderful opportunity to ease into networking. At first, it was a little daunting having to explain to people what Edelman did and why we were at the event. However, after negotiating the art of eating canapés whilst still being composed and maintaining a conversation, I found it easier to tell people who I was and what exactly it was that I was doing within Edelman.

With plenty of people to talk to I found the event very enjoyable and look forward to the chance of attending many more events with my move to Public Affairs next week.

For anyone who is interested, I am now writing for the political animals over at Despatchblog.com. These blogs will, unsurprisingly, have a more sociopolitical bent with my first foray into the arena being a piece on the current situation in Mugabe-manned Zimbabwe.

Swing by and have a read!

Tom

I’m sure you’ll all have read or seen the coverage on the increase in gun crime and gang related crimes over recent months. I’ll be the first to admit i feel great sorrow that certain sections and members of society deem it fit to indulge in wanton violence and criminal acts, seemingly with complete disregard for either the law, or other people’s safety.

Most recently, and perhaps most poignant (though I have my own opinion on this), was the gunning down of Billy ‘Remer’ Cox in his South London home. Only 15 years old, this is a tragic loss of life and something which should strike at the very core of our morals and values both as humans, and as citizens of a democratic and supposedly evolved society.

Tony Blair’s immediate reaction has been, very rightly, to push for a lowering of the age to 17 at which young people can receive long prison sentences for possessing a gun. Call me Conservative, call me what you will, but i think it should be even lower, given the propensity for crime amongst 15 year olds. However, this is neither here nor there in this quick blog.

My housemate suggested that Tony Blair was a lazy politician as he only reacted to events rather than proactively working to prevent them and that he ought not to be doing that. I countered, suggesting that measures have been put in place to try to tackle crime such as Operation Trident, increased police presence in gang hotspots and increases in the numbers of armed police on the streets, and, would she rather he didn’t react at all. Calling someone a reactionary can and more often than not, is a criticism, however, at least he is reacting and not letting events wash over him in the aftermath of the Iraq criticisms and the controversy surrounding his continued leadership.

As suggested in the title and opening paragraphs, it seems that these days people are too keen to criticise the PM and in this situation, he’s damned for ‘only reacting and not doing more’ but equally, would be damned if he did nothing because (perhaps) he may feel that reducing the age of culpability would be seen as a politically Conservative move and not in line with the ethos of the party.

Having said all this, to surmise my current thoughts on the problems – gangster rap, incorrectly glamorised lifestyles, social and educational deprivation, perceived opportunity deficit, disaffected youth (pained as i am to use such a cliched term), bad attitude, sometimes nancy-state, lack of significant repurcussions…the list of factors upon which we can blame the current climate is quite extensive and perhaps is a topic for another blog when I have more time.

Today saw the announcement that ex-Education Secretary, Ruth Kelly, would be sending one of her children to a private school, and not to a state school in the Tower Hamlets authority. Let it be made clear that this was following consultation and advice with both education and healthcare professionals who, having assessed the particular young Kelly in question, deemed him to have significant learning difficulties.

The argument being put forward by many is that this demonstrates a lack of confidence in the state system and that ministers such as Ms Kelly should send their sons to state school, regardless. One member of the public is quoted on the BBC news Website as saying “I’ve no problem with them sending their children private – as long as they admit the weaknesses with the state system.” (Paul McLoughlin, London)

I can understand and appreciate public concerns over the state of the education system. I also appreciate and sympathise with the apparent vote of no confidence in the system by ministers who helped create and shape it. However, the public must not jump to conclusions about the state of the education system based upon the private and considered action of a single MP.

Like any parent, Ms Kelly has the best interests of her son at heart. Having taken advice from professionals, she is concerned for the furthering of his education in an environment conducive for this to happen. As a child with learning difficulties, he needs greater attention than can be given him in a state-school setting and therefore, Ms Kelly is removing him from this stage to a place where his particular difficulties may be addressed and his needs catered for. She is still sending her other two sons to state school and, i very much doubt she is ecstatic about paying £15,000 a year to enable her son to go to a private school (though doubtless, parents cannot put a value on the love they have for their children).

I guess what this slightly protracted ramble is tapping away at is the rocky and hardened attitude we have towards the private decisions of ministers. We all want the best for our friends and family and should think about this before we make assumptions about the state of the education system based upon the private decisions of another.

I know there have been several cases like this, where ministers have sent their children to private school rather than state, but attacking them for it does little but damage people’s opinion of the education system which, by and large is populated by hard-working people deeply concerned with educating the future leaders and workers of our country. It is both demoralising to those working within the sector and not entirely constructive.

I for one support an MP’s right to send their child to a private school. They (generally) are doing their best to create a system of education that is available to all, not just those with money. The fact that they may have the resources to send their children to an institution which costs extra but may yield greater results is neither here nor there. Private choices should be allowed to be made privately.

If you’ve not thought about it yet and have somehow, inexplicably stumbled across this glorious blog, take a look at the graduate scheme website here.

If you’re still not convinced that this is the place for you then find out a bit more about what Edelman is like to work for here.

If you’re still umming and ahhh-ing, perhaps swing by one of our other blogs. Typed (sadly, gone are the days of ‘penning’ things) by the Public Affairs department, despatchblog.com is a regularly updated thinkpiece on everything public-affairs related. From ministerial candidates to public policy, this blog spans the entire gamut.

Further to this, and if you’re really keen to learn more, take a look at the oft-lauded blogging brainiac-cum-techno-geek blog prblogger.com. Run by our very own ‘northern monkey’, Stephen Davies, this eclectic blog is a one-stop shop for new-media and technology talk and lots more besides.
Northern MonkeySouthern Fairy

Tom

That’s about all this ’southern fairy’ has got to say for now – happy browsing!

Signalling a pretty drastic move away from David ‘man of the people‘ Cameron stance but it is genuine.

Quote from David Cameron in today’s Guardian:

“We know that we need to reach out to people disengaging from the political process.

“The first issue we have chosen is personal debt, but many more will be addressed in the months ahead, such as racism and homelessness.”

It’s a very bold stunt and i think could go one of two ways – either it will present the party as a forward thinking, self aware and current party, ready to say what they mean and what ‘people‘ are thinking (are you thinking what we’re thinking?), or it will expose them to old-school Tory criticisms…

I’m sure the PA team of Edelman at Despatchblog.com will have something to say!

Either way, viewed objectively – it’s pretty damn funny. Almost reminds me of Brass Eye…again!

My second week in the Public Affairs department has been rather a dichotomous affair. Like last week and the Labour party conference in Manchester, in the early part of the week, most of the team was away at the Tory party conference in Bournemouth. While they were “working” and wiling away the hours courting clients and carousing into the wee hours, I was dutifully slaving away on the EEDA (East of England Development Agency) account and summarizing their strategy plan. In between eulogizing on employment and waxing lyrical on the troubles of the transport system I was also digging around the net for some information to put together a character profile of Virginia and Peter Bottomley. Incidenatlly – whilst admittedly it may be childish; that surname has always given me the giggles. It reminds me of reading Just William as a kid. Aaaanyway, reeling in that tangent…..

Neil has been doing his best to keep me occupied on the work front and gave me the task of finding the names and contact details of organizations, charities and people with an interest in health issues and specifically, lowering cholesterol levels for Quaker (porridge oats not pensieve pontiffs). I’ve also undertaken a large bit of research on the Welsh national Assembly for Luke since his return from Bournemouth on Wednesday which has been quite the time consuming engagement. For all it’s usefulness, the internet can be bloody annoying. That’s all I have to say on the matter for now.

One thing I have noticed since working here is that people are generally very suspicious. By this, I don’t mean those I’m working with – they’re not watching me out of the corner of their eye or whispering behind my back (though if they were, I guess I wouldn’t know…that’s the paranoia setting in nicely now) – no, I’m talking about people at other companies when you phone them up. Getting such a simple thing as a name has consistently proved to be a most tedious, time consuming and all around telecommunicative nightmare of a task. Countless times I’ve found myself subject to a Spanish inquisition style questioning from the PA on the other end of the line when all I really want is a name. I know in this “period of heightened security” we need to be vigilant but I hardly think giving me the name of your director is going to set you up as a terrorist target. Especially when the person’s name I’m trying to get is the Director of the National Sheep Alliance. I kid you not. To some extent I can understand a certain degree of reluctance to divulge the Director’s credentials to any Me, Dick or Harry; but the national sheep alliance!? I think wool purveyors everywhere are generally safe from the threat of global terrorism – whilst I’m not belittling the importance of wool and other lamb and sheep-related goods; I don’t think they’d be the first target of a terrorist wishing to bring the global economy to it’s knees (no pedantic comments about the outbreak of foot and mouth amongst cows!).

Right, that’s me done again for this week. Come back next week for more of the same – same bat time, same bat channel!