Careers
Trainee Account Executive
Location
Reading
Educational qualifications:
Degree-level or equivalent
Role objective
A trainee account executive will work across a number of different accounts, giving them a good introduction to agency life.
A TAE will be expected to take on a number of key tasks, giving them the necessary grounding in PR to progress to a fully-fledged account executive. Not expected to get the job right every time, a TAE should show a willingness to learn and a desire to make PR not just a job but a career.
A TAE will develop a good understanding of the media landscape and acquire the skills to generate positive coverage and place spokespeople as commentators in print and new media.
Key responsibilities
Account responsibilities:
- Monitoring the media, including newspapers, magazines, journals, newswires and blogs, for opportunities for clients
- Liaising on a daily basis with team, clients and the media, via telephone and email
- Relationship building and networking with colleagues, clients and the media
- Preparing weekly status reports/emails, tracking and logging coverage, putting together coverage boards
- Building and keeping media lists up to date
- Attending client meetings and providing event/exhibition support where appropriate
- Researching, writing and distributing press releases and other written collateral to targeted media
- Promoting news stories and features to the media, known as ‘selling in’
Company responsibilities:
- Daily newspapers overview
- Answering incoming calls
- General administration duties
- Regular contributor to the face of Berkeley through social networking (including company blog and Twitter) on- and offline
- Beginning to support and understand the agency values (PIES)
- Develop an initial understanding of Berkeley’s storytelling philosophy and begin to bring elements of storytelling into written work
Skills and experience
Key Skills:
- Confidence, articulate, adaptable, creative
- Self – motivation and a persuasive manner
- Good spoken and written communication skills
- Excellent organisational and time management skills
- Good ‘people skills’, for working with a range of colleagues and clients
- A professional manner
- Good business sense
- Strong presentation and negotiation skills