Kick-starting a career in communications at Portland

Kick-starting a career in communications at Portland

I have always been interested in a career in communications. Having studied English at university, I find the role language can play in shaping the reputation of a single organisation truly fascinating.

I cannot think of a better place to kick-start a career in communications than at Portland. The four, roughly two month, rotations have quickly given me exposure to a wide variety of sectors and industries. I’ve now been working at Portland for nearly three months, and during that time I have been able to work for clients as wide-ranging as a multinational pharmaceutical, a telecommunications giant and some of the world’s leading philanthropic organisations. Within each individual account, managers have then taken the time to ensure that I have experienced as much of the different types of work Portland do as possible. This includes everything from stakeholder mapping, to creating messaging grids, to strategic brainstorming.

It’s not just the quality of the work that I think makes Portland great. When applying to graduate programmes, I often wondered whether the buzzwords and values that were bandied around by an organisation actually reflected the culture at that company. At Portland, however, they truly are as welcoming as they say they are. On our first day, Tim Allan and Alastair Campbell took the time to meet us all over breakfast, giving us an overview of the company and offering their advice on how to make our time at Portland as enriching as possible. A number of the senior partners have also taken time out of their busy schedules to meet me individually, have a coffee and chat about their experiences. This, I should point out, was entirely suggested and instigated by them. As well as weekly formalised training, each graduate has also been given a buddy and a mentor, and both are on-hand to offer career advice and answer any questions we may have.

Ultimately, the last three months at Portland have been exciting, enriching and informative, and I cannot wait to see what the rest of 2017 and 2018 will bring.

To read more about our Graduate Programme click here.

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