Are we recruiting interns right now?
Yes we are. Normally we hold a couple of recruitment days every year and one of those is just around the corner.
Otherwise, we are always keen to hear from great people, so please email interns@hopeandglorypr.com once you’ve read all the information below to work out that you’re in a position to take up the opportunity.
How long they last …
We offer three month internships.
We’re sorry but we don’t tend to offer shorter work experience or summer placements. So we only consider interns who are in a position to become trainees and then account execs immediately after the three months is up (see below “What happens at the end of three months?”).
Do you pay …?
We pay above London Living Wage. The salary works out as the equivalent of £25,000 per annum.
What are the hours …?
Depends a bit. Generally they are 9.00-6.00, Monday to Friday.
But PR doesn’t always work like that, so there might be times when you’re needed to help print and bind a document for a pitch and have to be in at 8.15. There might be a client event that means you’re out until midnight.
Very occasionally there could be weekend work (in which case we offer paid time off in lieu).
What do I do as part of my internship …?
Internships tend to vary from person to person. Some people have a pretty good grasp of PR already having done degrees in PR or having had work experience elsewhere. Some people come fresh from university, school or have had experience in other sectors.
You’ll work on around three to five client accounts as support for the team. That involves looking after the coverage monitoring, creating media lists, putting together activity reports, doing research, helping with the account admin. Depending on what’s going on you might also end up helping with events, photoshoots, writing releases, selling in stories to media or sitting in on client meetings.
And there’s a lot of reading the media. Papers, magazines, online. That’s the best way to spot opportunities, learn who writes what (and when and what their deadlines are) and start to understand what makes a good story.
We always make sure that, on the one hand, you get a decent view of what it is to work in PR and an opportunity to do the fun stuff, while, on the other, you don’t find yourself thrown in at the deep end without the support you need.
What do we look for in our interns …?
A decent idea of what PR is about is a good thing. And a clear idea about why you want to get into this industry – as well as what you’re going to bring to it. Previous experience in consumer PR is always a plus and tends to be looked upon favourably.
Beyond that, enthusiasm, a willingness to learn, a can-do attitude, an inclination to work pretty hard and get the job done. We also love interns who have a pretty positive attitude to life and are glass half full sorts of people. We don’t tolerate divas in our team and don’t tolerate them in interns. Arrogance or cockiness doesn’t tend to go down well either (knowing the difference between that and confidence is an important lesson in life, we think).
What happens at the end of three months …?
Assuming all goes well (on both sides of course), you’d become a trainee consultant and have a six month course of more structured training and development – some of it formal training, a lot of that development from working on client accounts day-in, day-out.
If things aren’t working out for whatever reason the you’re free to leave with as much notice as you’re able to give. Equally, we will either let you know if we don’t think that you will make the trainee scheme in good time (generally a couple of months in) or may extend the internship period to give a bit more time for you to address any issues.
If the traineeship goes well you become an account executive and continue a long and happy career with the agency. Traineeships last around six months.
