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PR student, Eloise Newman writes about year’s successful Meet The Professionals event, where over 80 PR and Marketing students met with PR professionals to find out all about their journey into Public Relations.

29th January 2020
Marketing, communications and public relationsPublic relations

Over 80 students joined PR professionals on Wednesday to discuss all things PR! Previous Meet The Professionals events have been in the evening in a speed-dating style where each student could talk to every professional in an allocated time frame. This year’s event was changed to a networking morning where students could get a real insight into each professional’s journey into PR and what their typical day of work consisted of for them. Professionals from a range of industries were able to give different perspectives and provide students with advice for their own career paths.

I caught up with Darren Northeast, Chairperson at Chartered Institute of Public Relations (Wessex Region) and the Managing Director of Darren Northeast PR Limited, who told me “Today has been a resounding success. I have attended the event for the past 3-4 years in succession, and I was apprehensive of this year’s change in format. The new format works so well, and I have noticed so much engagement from students today, which is so refreshing. I cannot stress this enough, today has been fantastic.” Philip Tutt-Leppard, Partner of 360 Integrated PR also commented “The quality of conversations this year have been much enhanced, through spending a longer time with each student, which has made this year’s event more enjoyable.” 

Students were able to receive tips with work placements, CVs and introduced to different job roles and responsibilities. Second year PR student Kayleigh Ridley said “It was an informative way to learn about the variety of sectors within the industry and have an engaging conversation with professionals who were once in our position as students, and to see how much they have progressed. To meet professionals who also studied at Solent was a great way to see how Solent Alumni have utilised their degree since graduating.”.  One of the third year students involved with organising this year’s event, Rachel Mole, commented “The annual Meet The Professionals event was such a success. We had over 80 students attend and it was great to see enthusiasm from both students and professionals. I think students found the day really beneficial and it was a great experience for myself to organise the event!”

This year’s Meet The Professionals event has been insightful in learning more about the PR industry and different roles on offer. This is an event not to be missed next year as hearing directly from professionals and learning networking skills are vital for a successful career in PR. A huge thank you goes to all of the professionals who attended the event, as well as the student team led by Rachel Mole and Dimitra Banti for the hugely successful and informative event.