Liquid’s virtual work experience returned with two sessions “An Introduction to PR” and “An Introduction to Digital and Social”. Both sessions were aimed at two cohorts of young people whose work experience options had been disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions over the last eighteen months. 

“An Introduction To PR” featured members of Liquid’s PR team giving attendees an overview of Public Relations, an interactive true or false session on the PR industry, a session on how to compose a press release, and a creative task based on De Bono’s thinking hats. Feedback was provided by the Liquid team to the students throughout the session and the day ended with a Questions & Answers session.

During the “Introduction to Digital and Social” session, students were introduced to Pay Per Click, Search Engine Optimisation, Customer Relationship Management, along with email marketing, content creation and video. They were also provided with a short list of digital tools they would likely encounter on a regular basis when working in digital marketing, including Google Analytics, Mailchimp and WordPress, and were also introduced to the concept of keyword research, explaining how all this can be used to create successful marketing campaigns. Students were then set the task to write an email subject line and a short blog article to put into practice what they had been taught.  

Liquids social media team gauged what attendees already knew about social media with a pop quiz before taking them through the different segments of social media marketing, including organic and paid social media, influencer marketing and reactive and proactive community management. Students were also given an overview of the tools frequently used in any successful social media marketing department including CRM systems, Facebook Business Manager, Canva and Bitly before undertaking a task of repurposing a Facebook post into content for Instagram and Twitter. This tested attendee’s knowledge of different features, formats and audience behaviours which differ from platform to platform.  

Across both sessions, the team provided participants with useful career insights; from what it’s like working in communications to how best to improve employability or join the profession. Students were set a task to complete at home and were given constructive feedback and provided with a certificate of completion. 

We hope all those that joined found the sessions illuminating and rewarding and wish all those that took part all the success in their future careers.