by Lily Mckay

As a year 10 at a Bristol school, I have the opportunity to spend a week doing work experience with a company of my choice. For this week, I chose Purplefish, a PR agency that works with a variety of companies and provided me with the work I wanted to experience.

Spending my work experience week with Purplefish has provided me with the opportunity to understand media marketing and develop an interest in PR. It has expanded my knowledge of the working world, specifically office life and interactions.

Contrary to the nervousness and slight apprehension that I felt – as many people do – at being introduced to an unfamiliar environment and a dozen strangers, I found myself surrounded by welcoming, interesting people who were both committed to their jobs and lovely to get to know better over the course of the week.

The Purplefish office is cosy and open; on my first day everyone was friendly and hardworking. Each morning, I would walk in to find a productive, hospitable environment often permeated by music and laughter. To add to the pleasant, comfortable environment, the most common phrase was “Does anyone want a cup of tea?”

I found out about Purplefish through a personal connection to the Bristol Royal Children’s Hospital. It was while raising money for the Grand Appeal through selling Christmas cards I had designed that I discovered a link with an interesting PR company: Purplefish.

After getting in contact with Amy – the Head of Operations – to enquire about a work experience placement, I became increasingly drawn to the world of marketing and PR. For me, Purplefish brought to light another side to supporting clients’ relationships with the public and selling or advertising services.

My ideal work experience involved exciting tasks that could help me develop my abilities to apply them in my future career. Purplefish was that and more. Over the week, I developed a ‘meet the team’ post for social media, interviewed each of the company’s employees, I was offered the opportunity to sit in on a team meeting to brainstorm ideas for a client (which I took, of course) and completed writing tasks.

I have found myself working independently, which has been different but refreshing, with all the support and direction from the employees at Purplefish that I needed. There was an abundance of interesting tasks for me to complete. I was never bored.

This past week, I have learned a lot about office culture, which degrees paired well with a job in PR, past careers that led people to PR and how to represent the agency’s branding on social media. This experience has been valuable, positive and educational; it will stay with me as I advance with both my future career and myself.