I usually like to think that I don’t get nervous in new situations. But I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t stall walking into the office on the first day of my 6-week internship. After a deep breath and a dose of liquid courage (a single espresso), I finally walked in and was grateful to be greeted by kind faces and smiles.
Tamara, Sorcha and Thom met us and, within the morning, introduced us to the company. By the midday break, the nerves had disappeared, and I was chatting to the other interns as if I’d known them for years. During our tour of the office, I noticed the culture at Edelman was not what I had feared. People spoke to each other, laughed, joked all while doing meaningful work. Looking at the other interns, we all had the similar facial expression of “this place is great!”
By the first afternoon, we all broke out into our individual teams. My first line manager and buddy (Jess and Sophie) picked me up from the meeting room with wide smiles and introduced me to the rest of the team. If there is one thing that struck me very early at Edelman is the friendly working culture. No one was too busy to say hello and introduce themselves, and people took time out of their busy schedules to chat and get to know us.
We took part in workshops throughout, each introducing us to different aspects of the firm. I’ll admit, my view of PR before working at Edelman was very narrow, but I quickly learnt that it encompasses a range of different disciplines. Sophie asked me what I wanted to get out of the internship, so I mentioned that I enjoyed design - Jess gave me a design task within the first week. I wanted to try my hand at copywriting, so had an opportunity to work with the editorial team. I was intrigued to know how DxI worked, so I had an insightful one-to-one with Matthew. I had the freedom to make what I wanted of the experience.
From the workshops to the team collaboration, my time at Edelman has been enjoyable and enriching. I have learnt a lot in a small period, and every day has been a new experience. I want to extend my thanks to everyone at Edelman for their support, and for helping me make the most of this opportunity.
Jaden Haynes is currently one of ten young professionals interning at Edelman UK through the 10,000 Black Interns initiative.
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