The beginning of December marked one year at Spike, my first Spike-iversary!
12 months ago, I was an unemployed graduate seeking a permanent position in the world of PR knowing that I just needed someone to believe I can do good things for their company. After graduating from The University of Edinburgh in the midst of a global pandemic, I found it more than tricky to get my foot in the door and gain that key experience every employer seeks. After umpteen interviews, a fair few tasks and my fair share of rejections, I was offered a position at Spike. I didn’t need to have extensive experience in PR, all I needed was an agency that truly believed that I could deliver good results and be an asset to their growing team.
Starting a new job is always going to be an anxious moment. Starting a new job in a global pandemic is a whole new ball game. I started my first week at Spike working in my childhood bedroom, with my laptop as my greatest companion, meeting new people over google meets – sounds weird right? It was probably the most memorable week in my working life, getting to know the team, understanding the workings of each department and understanding that everyone’s values aligned – it was to purely cut the agency BS and just do good things.
After a few months working at Spike, I knew I had landed on my feet with an agency that truly cares for your own personal development and career prospects. I was given the task to look after and enhance the PR department’s reactive PR offering. The team welcomed my new ideas and insights into this type of PR and supported my personal development in engaging in more content and webinars around reactive PR and newsjacking. A year on and reactive PR is still a highly successful strategy that has been developed to secure our client’s top coverage in publications such as British GQ, Stylist, Glamour, Yahoo and NetDoctor.
If I was to say one thing that surprised me about Spike, is that they help you develop a 360o understanding of the work you do, both for progression on client accounts as well as your own personal career development. I am continuously being trained on the necessary skills needed to succeed in the ever-changing PR industry and able to put these skills to the test on campaigns for our clients. Six months into the role, I was given the opportunity to guide our two summer interns through their understanding of the PR world. From explaining what PR is and why brands need it, to helping them create the perfect media list and create an engaging press release – Spike had offered me the opportunity to guide the two interns in the start of their careers in digital marketing. A successful two months of working alongside two highly motivated interns let me enhance my own personal skillset and guide my career progression.
Putting the role to one side, Spike is an agency that truly cares about its employees. I have received endless support from Spike since I started working at the agency, both in and out of work life. I couldn’t be more grateful for the past 12 months and I am super excited to see what the next 12 months brings, with new clients, amazing pieces of coverage and more Spike memories made with the ever-growing team!