The Pier team were joined this summer by intern Bevin Anandarajah, following her time as a trainee with the Taylor Bennett Foundation. Bevin has made a hugely positive impact in her short time here and we can’t wait to see where the future takes her! Here’s Bevin’s take on her time with us.

Why Pier?

Following my experience earlier this summer as a PR and Comms trainee at the Taylor Bennett Foundation, I was eager to gain some practical experience and apply what I had learned in a meaningful way. Of all the agencies advertising a PR internship position, Pier was the obvious choice for me. I have been interested in climate issues throughout university, so their specialism working with renewables was really appealing, whilst the opportunity to gain insights into the food and drink industry was something new and presented a fun challenge.

The experience

After my induction and onboarding calls, I was straight into the thick of work activities. My first task was to devise an exciting, creative and impactful stunt activity for one of Pier’s local authority clients. I’ve always considered myself to be more of a pragmatic than imaginative person, so it was a great, if slightly terrifying, experience to be asked to come up with new ideas for a client. The brief was clear, and I was encouraged to think outside the box. It wasn’t long before I got into the swing of thinking up coherent, newsworthy and scalable ideas that fit neatly within the client’s budget. There is no better way to learn than being thrown in at the deep end, and I’m so grateful to the team for their confidence in my capacities. Another of my tasks involved developing a photography brief for a team away day, and it was so fun to see the ideas on the page come to life in the photos themselves. I think that’s been another great opportunity of this internship; the ability to experience every stage of a process from start to finish.

Looking back, it’s amazing to see how many projects I was involved in; whether developing and posting social media content, researching new business opportunities, thinking up creative ideas for newsworthy PR stunts, drafting responses to tenders, or providing input to Pier’s B-Corp application. It was a privilege to be able to work across such a wide range of Pier’s activities, both for itself and its clients, and to work with every member of the team in some capacity.

My reflections

I’ll admit, I arrived with some preconceived notions of how competitive and potentially unforgiving work in the private sector might be, but the atmosphere at Pier really surprised me. This was my first time working in an entirely female workplace, and whilst I don’t think it’s particularly unusual, I have noticed (and enjoyed) the distinct culture of compassion and collaboration here. Pier colleagues go above and beyond, not only for their clients, but for each other too (as evidenced by the delightful goodie box I received with my laptop on my first day). The energy and passion for the work itself is matched by a strong community feel, which is something I will take with me and be on the lookout for elsewhere, as I continue my professional journey.

This experience has been a wonderful introduction into the world of communications agency work. No two days are the same, and the work is always dynamic and engaging. I’m sad to leave but so grateful for this opportunity to have met such a wonderful team and developed these skills ahead of my next placement.

Bevin Anandarajah

Some really lovely insights from Bevin during her time at Pier! It’s been a pleasure and privilege to welcome her into the team for our PR internship over summer and we can’t wait to hear all about her next adventure in the Communications Directorate at the EU in Brussels. A big thanks goes to the team at the Taylor Bennett Foundation who facilitated this partnership through their Summer Stars Programme.