Lauren O’Harrow, Senior Communications Associate
As a former PR apprentice, I am a strong believer in the power of apprenticeships. I have no regrets about taking what some people might view as an untraditional route into PR, but being a young PR professional did come with its own side of challenges alongside some great opportunities.
In honour of National Apprentice Week 2025, having finished my apprenticeship almost two years ago now, I wanted to share some of my top tips for navigating the industry as a young PR professional ( I won’t tell you exactly what year I was born, but what I can reveal is that ‘Crazy in Love’ by Beyoncé was the number one song in the charts).
One of the biggest challenges I have faced as a young PR professional is imposter syndrome. Fresh out of my A Level exams, I found myself in the deep end of the PR industry as an apprentice with no experience. Whilst this experience was exciting, it was also daunting. I was surrounded by close friends and family members who went straight down the university route without even considering apprenticeships, which really made me second guess my decision. During my A-Levels, I took Media Studies as one of my options and it just so happened that my media teacher used to work in PR. She spent time talking to me about what a career in PR would be like and really helped me to make my decision. But saying that I was pretty overwhelmed when I was surrounded by established PR professionals as a PR newbie would be an understatement.
I remember speaking with someone about how I felt and they simply said “everyone was a new at one point in their life and everyone had to start somewhere which makes you no different to anyone else” - and I feel like this is a piece of advice that I want to shout from the rooftops for the other young PR professionals out there. Instead of focusing on this self-doubt, remember that everyone around you was once in your shoes. Instead of obsessing over every small mistake, which you will inevitably make as you learn about the industry, focus on your achievements. Instead, take on board the learnings from the mistake and focus on how you will move forward and progress based on these learnings.
Another top tip for helping to stifle that self-doubt is to actively seek feedback. Whether the feedback is positive or negative, seeking all types of feedback will help you to grow, appreciate your strengths and work on improving your weaknesses. I have also found that seeking feedback really helped me to ground myself and allowed me to take a step back and see things how they really are.
Finally, and I cannot stress this one enough, set realistic expectations. From conversations I’ve had with other young PR professionals, many tend to set extremely unrealistic expectations from day one. You are not going to secure national coverage on your first day, let alone in your first month - so take the time to really absorb your colleagues’ knowledge and give yourself time to learn.
It goes without saying that the PR industry is very fast paced, and this can be overwhelming to a PR newbie. Many PRs thrive on the fast-paced nature of the industry, however this is not the case for the new PR professionals that are still trying to learn the ropes. When you see everyone around you smashing it, you will inevitably want to over deliver all the time, and this is not sustainable. Don’t get me wrong - it is important to aim high and deliver a high quality of work, but it takes a while to get to this point, so don’t get into the habit of taking on too much at once. Instead, focus on mastering each task individually within a manageable timeframe before expanding your workload - give yourself the time to learn.
The power of learning on the job is not something that should be underestimated and with the amount of internships and apprenticeships on offer, I would strongly encourage the young PR professionals out there to start applying to get some really valuable hands-on experience.
At Hard Numbers, we are currently in the process of hiring two new interns to join our team. By the time you’re reading this blog, our new interns should be starting very shortly so keep an eye out on our LinkedIn, X and Instagram pages to meet our new interns. If you are interested in hearing about what an internship at Hard Numbers looks like, take a look at this blog and keep an eye out on our careers page for future internship opportunities.
