Charlotte Sherry studied English and History at Leeds University followed by an MA in Postcolonial Literature. She is now a Senior Account Executive at workplace communications consultancy CHA in London. I worked part-time in PR while doing my masters at University. I was also an editor on the Leeds Student newspaper. These two roles combined helped develop my communication and writing skills. It also gave me an insight into the media, and made me realise that I wanted to pursue it as a career. I joined CHA on its work experience scheme (a three-month programme), and was offered a full-time role at the end of my placement. Within twelve months I was promoted to a Senior Account Executive. My day-to-day role varies hugely. I pitch stories to journalists and arrange interviews, lead brainstorms, write feature synopses and press releases and liaise closely with clients. I work for both consultancy and corporate clients, including Tesco, AstraZeneca, DSG international and E.ON UK. The variety of the job is certainly the best thing about my role. No two days are the same. It’s also great to see the interviews you’ve arranged appear in print - I’ll always get a buzz from achieving coverage. Research launches are always exciting - after working for months on a project, it’s great to see a flurry of coverage in national newspapers. Also, all PR programmes have coverage targets that we need to achieve. It’s great to attend annual reviews and showcase all your achievements over the year. It can be challenging to balance the needs of both clients and journalists, and adapt the written house-style of clients to the written-style of journalists. So, being a confident communicator is key - as a lot of time is spent communicating verbally and through writing. It’s also important to be organised and efficient to deal with multiple tasks at the same time. Public relations is a popular career so I would advise anyone who is thinking of entering the industry to get some work experience to set yourself apart. Universities offer many media-based roles (e.g. student newspapers or radio) that will give you a taste of how the media works. Further information:
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