Interviews

After an intense ten weeks of learning, backed by the Brunswick Group, and including practical training in PR, media and business, plus numerous networking opportunities, agency visits and careers coaching, Frances and her counterparts began looking for their first break in the industry. The Foundation helps with that process too, and it was at the recommendation of a Taylor Bennett director that Frances applied for her first PR role at Mumsnet. Her application was successful, and now she’s happily working for the popular and influential website in their press office.

We spoke to Frances to about her new role at Mumsnet, and her thoughts on how to increase diversity in the PR industry.
 

It looked like a fantastic opportunity to break into an industry I was finding it difficult to get a foothold in.
 

No, not at all, I have a degree in English, but I knew it was a sector that interested me.

Had you done other internships?

Yes, quite a few! One paid, the Civil Service Summer Development programme, but many unpaid, at Haymarket, Mills And Boon, Harper Collins, Penguin and literary agency Rogers, Coleridge And White. In short, at one point I was a serial internee!

How did you get your role at Mumsnet? 

Actually, the lovely Lisa [Quinn] from Taylor Bennett flagged up the job advert and sent it through to me. I applied, was interviewed and luckily offered the job.

For the uninitiated, tell us a bit about Mumsnet

Mumsnet is the UK’s biggest social network for parents, generating 37 million page views per month and nearly 5 million visits per month.

What does your current job involve?

Maintaining press office databases, responding to initial inquiries from journalists, collating and analysing press coverage, actively contributing to media campaigns, and assisting in the development and distribution of media materials.

Is working in PR what you expected?

Broadly speaking yes! But that’s because the Taylor Bennett internship works really hard to prepare you.

Do you think there is a lack of ethnic diversity in PR, and how should the industry tackle it?

There is definitely, and not just ethnic diversity, I think there is a social class issue also. On the former, programmes like TBF are making fantastic strides to change things.

I think one of the core issues is that PR is never really presented as a viable career option to young people from ethnic minority communities. Their parents push them towards more vocational studies that lead to the professions or a trade, because of the perceived and (in many cases actual) financial rewards and job stability that some of those professions provide, not to mention the prestige and status (every Ghanaian parent basks in telling their friends that their son/daughter is a doctor/barrister/solicitor – in descending order!).

I think as – via programmes like TBF – more people from ethnic minority communities start to work in PR, then awareness of the sector will grow amongst those communities, making it a more obvious option for young people, and easier for their parents to endorse . And I think over time more people from these communities will consider jobs based on their interests rather than just the starting salary and pension pot – and that will boost involvement in the more creative industries.

Are you still involved with the TBF internship now?

Yes, I try to support the programme and the current generation of participants wherever I can.
 

Definitely! Social media is democratising PR, vocalising communities of advocates and/or detractors of any company, brand, organisation or movement. From a consumer point of view this is a good thing! Social media has empowered us all, giving each of us a platform to sell or sink a product or service.
 

Stay abreast with current affairs and devour the papers. Get onto Twitter and follow everyone important – the great and the good of PR, the media and the sectors that interest you. And listen to Radio 4 – you’ll learn everything you ever needed to know in order to sound vaguely intelligent! And on top of all that, you’ll need lots of perseverance!
 

I love my role in supporting and assisting with our campaigns. I also love it when we host live webchats, because we have famous people come into the office who I can gawk at! Simple pleasures!
 

There is value to be had in every aspect of my job! Big and small, fun and mundane…

Tell us something interesting about yourself that we couldn’t find out on the internet.

I’ve been to Sudan. I’m not sure how interesting that is but it always elicits a few ‘oos and ahhs’ when I tell people! Makes me sound much more interesting than the provincial small islander I really am!