The Best Career Advice We've Ever Been Given

Writing is the foundational skill of comms, and doing it well takes a lot of thought and practice. There’s lots about good writing that is objective, like obeying the rules of grammar, but there’s also a lot that is a matter of style. The Economist – a great magazine that is written beautifully – has done all of the hard work making decisions about its style of writing and published those decisions as a style guide that anyone can read. It gives you insight into how they approach some of the more subjective parts of writing, and if you follow its principles, you’re more or less guaranteed to produce good copy.

Mike, Account Director

Make sure you learn from every opportunity that’s thrown at you.  And to ensure you get as many opportunities as possible, don’t be afraid to put your hand up when your bosses are looking for someone to take on a project that’s different. Even if the task sounds challenging or daunting, go for it.

Be open to new stuff, new people, or new ways of doing old, everyday tasks. Get your information and ideas from new sources. Don’t sit in the same old echo chamber. Mix things up. There’s something interesting in just about everything and everyone (I’ve learned loads from people I don’t like) and if you have an open, learning mindset it will give you a career edge. I’ve been in PR and running a company for over 30 years and I’m still learning – and that’s thrilling.

Louise, Managing Director

I’m more confident in an idea when it’s been critiqued and challenged by others to find any weaknesses. Together you evolve the idea and end up with something much better than if everyone loved the idea from the outset. The person who gave me the advice taught me there’s a friendly (even healthy) way to disagree, and always made it about the idea, not the person.

Sarah, Head of Digital

@energy.pr

💡 What’s the best advice you’ve had in your career? #careeradvice #careerdevelopment #careertips #careerprogression #publicrelations #pr #pragency

♬ These Words – Badger & Natasha Bedingfield

Presenting is a skill that most people find challenging at some point in their career, but it is absolutely something you get better at the more you do it.

Over the years I have had lots of useful presenting tips, but none more so that ‘be yourself’. When you are trying to remember which slides are yours and what you are going to say, the last thing you need to be doing is trying to portray this different, and often hyper-professional version of yourself. It comes across as awkward, and everyone in the room (or virtual room) can tell. If you can relax and be yourself, your preparation and personality will shine through, and the presentation will feel more natural, with greater success (hopefully).

David, Account Director

Be adaptable to the people you meet, the situations you find yourself in, from the changes in your career opportunities to what an individual day may throw at you. If you can get on with everyone, problem solve and roll with the changes as they come, you’ll be better placed to move up the career ladder than those that can’t.

Susannah, Deputy Managing Director

It’s impossible to learn without asking questions, and it’s impossible to grow without feedback.

Everyone you work with will have skills, experiences, perspectives and advice that you could benefit from. And while it can be easy to worry about how you’re coming across, so you just end up muddling through by yourself (I used to be very guilty of this) – it’s much more effective to learn from everyone around you. They’ll appreciate that you want to improve, and you’ll grow and develop SO much quicker.

But even more importantly, make sure you’ve got a steady supply of snacks. Because everyone needs snacks.

Ben, Data and Insights Manager

Enough said!

Adem, Account Manager