In which Demi has some time to be a slob, hurrah!

I'm still in my pajamas at 2pm. Yes, I am being a slob today. And yes, I love it. I intend not to get out of bed unless there is dire need. Such as hunger. Or until I go out with my friend tonight.

So after 2 weeks at my second PR company (it got reduced from 3 to 2), I have concluded:

• Corporate PR is dull. This company had a very different list of clients than the first, but they were more along the lines of investment banking groups, lawyers, estate agents and charities. Retail PR was much more up my street, where there are new products to push, and the industry and market is constantly changing. So while I didn't enjoy this placement as much as the last one, at least I know which field I prefer.
• PR is most definitely not the 9-5 job I assumed it would be. I was asked to go along and help at one of the many events they run in the evenings, and didn't get home until gone 9pm, having left the house at 7.55am. When do they have time for a social life??
• Building on the last point, I learnt the power of hobnobing and schmoozing. I had to greet the guests and guide them towards the host, get them drinks etc, and later mingled and tried to talk to as many people as possible. I got to talk to a corporate and personal stylist, the PR woman for the TV show Emmerdale, a presenter on BBC Radio Leeds, a local historian and two very cute twin guys a little older than me who were schmoozing in the hopes of landing a placement.
• I'm pretty good at writing press releases, as it turns out. All that writing practice and dreams of being an author seems to have paid off!
• I'm a 'tall poppy' according to the lovely stylist at the event. Don't ask.
• Long days mean eating a lot. I now understand why all the girls in the office eat salads for lunch. I've gained so much weight it's depressing. Time to crack out my Davina exercise DVD!

It's been a fantastic experience, and they were lovely enough to let me print off examples of all the press releases and work that I'd done to add to my portfolio. They all offered to write me a reference, and treated me to cakes and a pot plant on my last day :) I was more prepared this time and had bought a box of chocolates along to say thank you as well.

So, what's on the agenda now? R&R? Getting drunk? Lazing about in the sun? Well, as it turns out, no. And not just due to the horrible weather in the UK at the moment. I got a call from the 3rd company I applied to, way back in February, who had never responded to my email over Easter about going in for an interview. Lo and behold, they call me up in the middle of my second placement and ask to meet me to discuss going to work for them for a bit. Add that to my return to my first Leeds placement at the end of August, and I'm looking at working for more weeks than I'll be having off. Which I do appreciate, don't get me wrong. All this experience is absolutely invaluable. But considering I'm not getting paid for it, unlike my friends at accountancy/law etc firms, who are raking in thousands for their summer placements, I don't find it surprising that I'm a bit more reluctant. Ah well, it'll all be worth it!

...I hope! xo