Work experience is something that, before Year 10, I pretty much had no clue about; and particularly no clue as to what I wanted to do for it. I have always had a passion for writing, and thought it’d be a good experience to work in the PR and Communications world, which provides the opportunities for me to follow that passion.
Coming to Athene was very nerve wracking, it probably was the scariest thing I had ever done, or at least that’s what I thought. I decided to ring up and come on the Friday before I started so that I could meet everyone. I was very nervous for this meeting; many things were going around my head – Would they like me? Would they welcome me?
When I arrived here I was shown around by Becky, and met almost everyone who worked at Athene. They were all lovely and after that I found that my nerves had completely calmed and I could enjoy what was to come.
During the first week I was given many tasks to complete including researching, updating of websites and writing press releases. The most exciting thing that I did that week was write press releases and blogs, the more challenging thing was probably the updating of websites, which was harder but still good to go through. The week went by pretty quickly and by Friday I knew everyone and felt welcomed into the work place and just looked forward to the week ahead and what I would get up to.
The next Monday I felt really good about the week, and the next few days went really well, I spent a lot of time on a Database worksheet which at first was quite challenging for me, but soon became easy to do. Other tasks I tackled during the week included research on an Estate for a website we are writing and bringing together some coverage on social media for one of our clients.
I’ve now come to the end of my time at Athene, but I have learned a lot, which will help me in the future. Even if I don’t pursue a career in the PR world, this experience has given me new skills, as well as a lot of confidence in what I can do. I think I have matured a lot since coming here, and will definitely carry that on back into my school life.
All in all my experience here has been very influential and I can safely say that these kind people and this wonderful company have given me some much needed life skills as well as work experience!