This summer, the Pier team were joined by intern Jenny Ding, placed through the Taylor Bennett Foundation. Jenny slotted into the team seamlessly and got stuck in from day one. Here’s Jenny’s reflections on her time with us.
“We’ve all been there: the internal debate between an employed or bed rot summer. A decision most graduates will face, and the exact position I was in a few months ago.
“Having approached the end of my degree, I was clear in two things: my interest in communications, and my NON-interest in chemistry (sorry, my entire university degree).
“Through the Taylor Bennett Foundation I found Pier, an integrated communications agency with offices in both my hometown in Ipswich and my current living location in London – it seemed too good to be true! Applying was a no brainer, and before I knew it, an internship summer was upon me.”
Week 1: Onboarding, influencers, and His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Suffolk
“My first week at Pier included a through onboarding from Operations Lead, Lisa. I felt like an integrated part of the team from day one.
“One of my first projects was helping organise an influencer gifting campaign for a client. I had thought finding influencers would be a quick task, what with all the influencer content on Instagram and TikTok, but boy was I wrong. That was my first lesson; never underestimate the capacity of a task. I learned about the importance of relevant creator’s niches, professional courtesy in client outreach and the use of spreadsheets, spreadsheets, SPREADSHEETS.
“The highlight of that week was, however, a Still Good Food awards event. As Pier’s charity partner, we could not have been happier for them receiving the King’s Award for Voluntary Service. Not only did I get the chance to learn about Pier’s role in organise a press photo call for the event, but I was also able to hear about the incredible work contributed by their volunteers towards rescuing food waste across Suffolk. Oh, and we also got to meet His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Suffolk!”
Week Two: The art of packing influencer gifts and the London office
“During week two, I carried on supporting with the influencer gifting campaign, this time helping pack the gifts. Within one morning, we were working as a well-oiled machine and gotten the science of packing each box down to a tee.
“Later that week I had the chance to recount this experience to our team at the London office, making for a fun lunchtime chat during the busy day.”
Week Three: AI Takeover
“Amongst my steadily building list of projects was an ongoing AI research task. Through this, I was introduced to the more traditional side of PR. I learned about share of voice, mounting coverage and press releases (later, I even wrote my own!).
“As part of my AI research I experimented with AI and explored how it could be leveraged as a tool to make data-related analysis more efficient and accurate. This exposed me to a range of different AI models and their respective natures. It also sent me down a deep deep research rabbit hole which, albeit interesting, took up a dangerous amount of time. It meant that I had to juggle my food and beverage clients, and renewables clients, with AI research in the background. And thus came lesson two; PR agency = company of multitasking pros. The team at Pier are seasoned pros at this, so thankfully I was in safe hands.”
Week 4: The end (not really)
“By Monday of my last week, I was already feeling the sadness of having to say my goodbyes. Thanks to the support of the team, I have learned more at Pier than I could ever have imagined. I had been trusted with writing UGC content briefs, compiling coverage reports and helping review technical website copy. Alongside this, the team involved me in internal calls with clients, showing me the level of passion and care that goes into projects behind the scenes. One client call stuck out to me the most as it really highlighted the importance Pier placed on managing client relationships and their commitment to their work. To say I have been inspired would be an understatement.
“So, lesson three, more of a message really, internship summer was far from bad. Sure, it was nerve wracking at first, but the experiences earned and connections made along the way far outweigh any doubts I had to start with.
“My time with Pier is over for now, but what will stay with me is the good memories, office moments and invaluable PR experiences I’ve had the pleasure of being involved in. This is by no means the end of my PR journey, so instead of goodbye, I’ll sign off with a…thank you, and see you later!”
Thanks Jenny. It’s been a pleasure welcoming you to Pier and we can’t wait to hear about your future plans. For more on internships at Pier, you can read our policy or get in touch.
