It’s been far from an ordinary year with the coronavirus pandemic still vastly influencing our daily lives both professional and personal. 

We’re mostly still working from home which of course has its upsides but also some down. It’s meant like many businesses; we’ve had to adapt the way we do things, the way we communicate, the way we run our daily operations and how we conduct some of the lesser run of the mill things like work experience placements.  

We know just how important and valuable an insight into the real world of work can be for young people but with a new rising wave of coronavirus cases and the extended work from home message from the Government, hosting our usual office-based work experience this year was not an option. 

We didn’t want to cancel so for the first time ever we operated a virtual work experience placement and we were lucky to welcome Newport Girls High School student Natasha Parker to the fold for a few days. 

Natasha has just completed Year 10 and will be heading into the all-important GCSE year on her return to school in September. 

So, let’s see what she made of her time with Be Bold. 

Written in her own words Natasha describes overcoming her nerves, being challenged, feeling proud and dodging the tea making…. 

This year, everything seems to have been impacted by COVID-19, even things you wouldn’t expect, for example work experience. However, some businesses and schools have gone over and above to make sure 2021 Year 10 students don’t miss out on the incredible chance to get an insight into the world of work. 

I had the opportunity to do work experience with the amazing company, Be Bold PR. 

Throughout my time with the lovely team at Be Bold, I was faced with challenging tasks, such as writing press releases and creating social media posts, all of which I couldn’t wait to get my teeth into. The days were rather long and quite tiring in comparison to a normal school day, however, by the end, I couldn’t have been prouder of what I’d achieved. 

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, my placement with Be Bold was online, yet this did not stop the team from pushing me to do my best and teaching me as much as they could about PR, in the few days I was with them. 

At first, I was rather nervous. Ironically, as I am an avid performer, meeting the team and talking over Teams put me rather on edge. Nevertheless, my supervisors at Be Bold made me feel extremely welcome.  

During my work experience, I completed two sample press releases – one for FBC Manby Bowdler and the other for a fictional company called Turner Industries. I also got to sketch out some social media post ideas as part of the Turner Industries project. My favourite part of my time with Be Bold had to be completing my Bridge Cheese social media project for National BBQ Day. 

Before my work experience, I knew the odd thing or two about PR from my mum who works in marketing. However, the insight I got from Be Bold was so much more than I’d ever expected, which was unbelievable given the current circumstances. In fact, before the delay in the next lift of COVID restrictions, I was ready to be making cups of tea and shadowing the staff, desperately trying not to get in the way. Yet, the team at Be Bold got me as involved as possible; although I’m sure they were disappointed that I couldn’t be on tea duty virtually. 

Thank you for having me Be Bold, I am eternally grateful for the lessons I’ve learnt from you all. I now have a lot more faith that public relations could be a potential career path for me thanks to my time with your incredible team. 

Phew!! At least we didn’t put her off. Just as well because here at Be Bold, we all thought Natasha was a bit of a natural when it comes to PR. Wishing you the very best of luck for your studies next year. 

Team Be Bold 

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