If you want to use an intern - pay them!
The unpaid intern debate is back in the news this week with announcements that HMRC will be probing the exploitation of interns in the PR industry. This comes on the back of reports that, of the 100 firms reported by Intern Aware, an incredible 10% were either PR agencies or companies advertising PR roles. Now forgive me for potentially going off on a rant here, but is it really necessary for PR – and indeed any industry – to use unpaid talent? In my view, if an individual at any level, and regardless of their background, is doing work for a company which it deems necessary, that person should receive payment for their services. Yes an intern will require a level of training and perhaps even more hand holding than someone with more experience would, but they can also prove invaluable for the business.
Is there really a gender pay gap among female professionals?
As it is International Women's Day - and never one to shirk controversy, I thought this may be an apt post for today. It was prompted by some interesting research I came across from one or our business education clients which suggests that women are under represented in high paying jobs not because of discrimination - but because they are not applying for them. Professor Roxana Barbulescu, of the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University, says “Women are taking themselves out of the running for certain jobs. When they evaluate different possible career tracks they already have the assumption that their applications may be unsuccessful. This is combined with a preference for jobs with better work-life balances and a lack of identity with more stereotypically masculine jobs, such as you may find in the finance industry. In a sense they pre-empt what they think the employers’ decision will be, and opt-out first. ”
Is our media sexist?
For a long time, there has been an ongoing debate about whether or not there is sexism in the media. The treatment of Meghan Markle and the press’ ability to turn a blind eye to Boris’ antics when they chose not to with Theresa May has brought this issue to the forefront once more.
Being a good employer - It's the small things that matter
I was talking to a fellow business owner the other week and he was bemoaning the fact that he couldn't afford to put a decent employee benefits package together. "It's so difficult to compete with the big guys when they have their gym memberships, private healthcare and big employee engagement programmes." I asked him what he did to engage his employees - he said "well nothing - as I've said, I can't really afford it." This surprised me. I'm not going to pretend I am some great benevolent employer but there are lots of small things a business can do to make their employees feel valued and engaged. For one thing we always buy a birthday present and a card for our staff, we buy ice creams when it's hot; we are really flexible when it comes to people needing to come in late or leave early and when our four graduates passed their induction we bought them chocolate Olympic medals. We also invited then all to dinner the day before they started so we could all get to know each other. We close for Christmas week and give away a few extra days of holiday rather then making staff take it out of their allowance. We also give staff £50 when they join to buy a picture for our meeting room - so that there's a bit of everyone's personality in there - as well as something to remember people by if they leave.
BlueSky's latest recruit - Kerry Gill
Hi, my name is Kerry and I am one of four new additions to the BlueSky PR team. This is my first venture into the world of PR, and despite having a lot to learn I’m looking forward to getting involved and showing people (including me) what I’m capable of… after I’ve finished the training programme that is! My ideal job hasn’t always been PR, and until recently I’d channelled my energies towards journalism. Writing has always been my passion, and as a student I ensured I found work with local radio stations and newspapers. I went on to complete a degree in Multimedia Journalism in 2008.
BlueSky's newest recruit - Vickie Collinge
Hi I’m Vickie, the latest recruit at BlueSky PR. Having graduated in PR and Journalism nearly four years ago I jumped straight into the PR world with a graduate role in a communications agency, where I tried my hand at various PR elements in several industries. Since then I have narrowed down my interests to the HR and Benefits industry and have worked on PR campaigns with key industry leaders over the past two years. In my new role at BlueSky PR I will be bringing my background in the sector to new clients in the recruitment, RPO and benefits industry. My enthusiasm for writing and public relations started during my college years where an interesting combination of media studies and English literature introduced me to the world of creative writing and journalism. I’ve also recently completed a course in digital marketing and am a real advocate of social media as a PR tool – if you want to hear about some of the latest social media news, trends and tips follow my twitter account @VickieCollinge
Why people power did not close The News of the World
I bought the last copy of The News of The World last Sunday. Not because I supported the paper in any way shape or form but, from a professional point of view, I wanted to own a piece of publishing history. I can't remember a time in my whole life ( almost half a century) an instance of a newspaper closing down in the midst of such a scandal.
My first three months in PR
It’s been three months since I took my first nervous steps into the BlueSky office, and I have to say they’ve flown by. As a newcomer to PR, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. My
Would you hire Charlie Brooker?
Reading through Andy Headworth's mostly fabulous 2010 PDF, '50 Top Tips for Jobseekers' this lunch time, I came across one tip in particular that, I'll admit, made my stomach lurch.
Is Max Clifford giving PR bad PR?
Those of you in the PR industry know that most PR companies are filled with passionate, intelligent people dedicated to helping great brands and businesses to communicate with their
The Daily Mail – pretty rubbish prose or PR pros?
There’s no such thing as bad publicity… right? The Daily Mail doesn’t seem to think so. In fact, it seems that every other day
