PR comp superstar

London Met Communications Management MA graduate Ekaterina Aleksandrova has bowled over the PR world with the success of her “Wanted: Super Intern” competition. Earlier this year, Ekaterina, formerly London Met’s student rep to the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), devised a competition amongst MA and BA PR students to win an internship with a leading PR agency.

Ekaterina had a budget of just £50 to organise an event to promote CIPR membership. Whilst juggling full-time work and her MA, Ekaterina managed to hunt down and interview PR agencies, campaign to get students to apply for the competition, organise a contest room and a venue for after-drinks, as well as select a graphic designer and photographers. She also managed to arrange a pre-event press release which was published in PR magazines Behind the Spin and Profile Extra.

On the competition day in May, representatives from PR firms Lansons Communications, PHA Media and Phoenix presented their briefs to the students, who were marked on their creativity, teamwork, strategic thinking and other personal qualities. London Met PR students Lukasz Gvozdz and Sonia Navarrete won the competition along with Oana Jinga from Birmingham City University. However the judges were so impressed by the calibre of the students, six additional internships were offered.

There can be no doubt the biggest winner from the event was Ekaterina, whose hard work has led to many doors in the PR world opening up to her. As a direct result of the event Ekaterina was offered a number of PR roles, which she chose to decline in order to finish her dissertation. Articles about Ekaterina and the competition have featured in the Behind The Spin and Vox-pop PR Careers websites and she even received publicity in her native Russia. Ekaterina also won a silver prize for the event at the London Met Student Achievement Awards 2009-2010.

Ekaterina ‘s current role as a personal assistant to two directors in a large architecture company was recently tailored to support the company’s head of communications and facilitate media liaison in the Russian market. Her dissertation, which she completed in September, explored how cultural differences between Russia and the UK affect business communications and was based on the company where she works.

Click here to read Ekaterina’s blog about the Super Interns programme, including links to articles published about the competition. You can also click here to read Ekaterina’s professional blog.


5 October 2010