This is my first venture into the world of PR, and despite having a lot to learn I’m looking forward to getting involved and showing people (including me) what I’m capable of… after I’ve finished the training programme that is!

My ideal job hasn’t always been PR, and until recently I’d channelled my energies towards journalism. Writing has always been my passion, and as [...]]]> Hi, my name is Kerry and I am one of four new additions to the BlueSky PR team.

This is my first venture into the world of PR, and despite having a lot to learn I’m looking forward to getting involved and showing people (including me) what I’m capable of… after I’ve finished the training programme that is!

My ideal job hasn’t always been PR, and until recently I’d channelled my energies towards journalism. Writing has always been my passion, and as a student I ensured I found work with local radio stations and newspapers. I went on to complete a degree in Multimedia Journalism in 2008.

After graduation, my career path took a wholly different direction from what I’d imagined, and rather than working my way up from the bottom of the local paper, I found myself working first as a recruitment adviser, and later for a university in a secretarial / administrative role – hardly the ideal start for a budding journalist, or so I thought. Whilst I’d never envisaged myself in either of these professions, I discovered that I adored them both. I got the most enjoyment from building relationships with those I collaborated with on various projects, and using that bond to create something unique and beneficial. Then came my interest in PR, a perfect way to combine my writing and communication skills, and get to be a crucial part of journalism today.

Outside of work I like nothing more than to lose myself in a book, or a film for a few hours. I also love live music, and Formula 1 which has me hooked each season.

I’ve joined BlueSky on the Education side of the business, and I’m hoping that my job history and qualifications will help me find my feet so that I can become a valuable member of the team.

Since then I have spent time interning at Cirkle Communications and worked as a Marketing Assistant at Eshop Retail Group where I commissioned a brand new ecommerce website and [...]]]> Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Carly Smith, one of the lucky four chosen to join the team at BlueSky as an Account Executive. I will be working on the recruitment side of the business. I graduated from the University of Bedfordshire last year with a degree in Journalism and Public Relations.

Since then I have spent time interning at Cirkle Communications and worked as a Marketing Assistant at Eshop Retail Group where I commissioned a brand new ecommerce website and introduced the company to the wonderful world of social media.

I can’t tell you how excited I am about this opportunity and how much I am looking forward to learning the ropes, meeting our clients and of course, contributing to this blog. Watch this space…

As a recent Geography graduate a career in PR is perhaps not an obvious choice. However, my degree has provided me with a love and knowledge of international issues, as well as transferable skills in research, writing and communication.

I am passionate about international development and, during my second year at university, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to Kenya on a field trip. This [...]]]> Hi, I’m Hannah and I’m one of four new members at BlueSky PR.

As a recent Geography graduate a career in PR is perhaps not an obvious choice. However, my degree has provided me with a love and knowledge of international issues, as well as transferable skills in research, writing and communication.

I am passionate about international development and, during my second year at university, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to Kenya on a field trip. This really opened my eyes to the complexities of poverty, and I went on to carry out an internship at a charity.

My other interests are creative writing, reading, and anything arty. I also have an eye for detail and, consequently, am carrying out a proofreading and editorial skills course in my spare time.

I’m thrilled to be part of BlueSky PR and will be working on the recruitment side of the company. I am looking forward to bringing a different perspective to the team and am very excited for the challenges that lie ahead.

We’ll be in touch soon to arrange delivery of your prize, Kay. And to everyone else, thank you once again and if you didn’t manage to see our presentation on [...]]]> At the recent Recruitment Agency Expo we ran a competition to win a remote control helicopter. Thanks to everyone who popped by our stand and entered their details. We have now picked the winner at random and are pleased to announce that Kay Ajayi from Quant IT is the lucky recipient.

We’ll be in touch soon to arrange delivery of your prize, Kay. And to everyone else, thank you once again and if you didn’t manage to see our presentation on building your brand and reputation you can still view it here.

This edition we speak to Maggie Berry, Managing Director of Women in Technology.

Q: Why do you use PR? A: We use PR [...]]]> For some recruitment businesses, the decision to undertake PR can be a hard one. Recruitment is hugely results driven and ROI is easily measurable. PR is different, and it can take some time to see results. With this in mind, we thought we’d feature a Q&A in each newsletter with a recruiter who uses PR, and why they do so.

This edition we speak to Maggie Berry, Managing Director of Women in Technology.

Q: Why do you use PR?
A: We use PR to make female technologists aware of the opportunities available to them in the sector, as well as helping businesses to understand the importance of gender equality in the workplace. We have so much to offer the industry that one of our major goals is to ensure that every woman in technology comes into contact with us at some point during their career. This can be through a networking event, through our site, or through reading our advice in the press coverage generated through PR. Another reason is that it has a completely different effect to advertising. Anyone with the right budget can buy advertising space, but PR places you as an expert in your field within prestigious and targeted trade publications.

Q: How do you measure ROI?
A: We measure ROI by how our clients and candidates react to the press coverage they’ve seen, and we monitor increases in our web traffic following PR activity. We get a lot of feedback on articles people have read that bring to light the positive work we do. That is how we know we’re getting our message out there.
Q: What advice would you give to recruitment businesses considering PR?
A: Don’t expect advertising and instant results. PR is a completely different kettle of fish and if you’re looking to use it to promote a short-term initiative, you may want to think about your aims. For example, if you’re trying to immediately convert sales, PR may not be for you. However, PR can work wonders for longer term aims, particularly given that recruiters aren’t always the most popular of professionals. If you have a niche and want to set yourself apart from the crowd and establish yourself in key media as an industry expert, PR is definitely for you. If you’re thinking about investing in PR, it is worth noting that identifying an agency that is an expert in your field may be more beneficial than a generalist PR agency. This is certainly the case with us and BlueSky, who know the recruitment sector and can identify with the challenges we face as a business exceptionally well.

Having graduated in PR and Journalism nearly four years ago I jumped straight into the PR world with a graduate role in a communications agency, where I tried my hand at various PR elements in several industries. Since then I have narrowed down my interests to the HR and Benefits industry and have worked on PR campaigns with key industry leaders over the past two years.

In my new role at BlueSky PR [...]]]> Hi I’m Vickie, the latest recruit at BlueSky PR.

Having graduated in PR and Journalism nearly four years ago I jumped straight into the PR world with a graduate role in a communications agency, where I tried my hand at various PR elements in several industries. Since then I have narrowed down my interests to the HR and Benefits industry and have worked on PR campaigns with key industry leaders over the past two years.

In my new role at BlueSky PR I will be bringing my background in the sector to new clients in the recruitment, RPO and benefits industry.

My enthusiasm for writing and public relations started during my college years where an interesting combination of media studies and English literature introduced me to the world of creative writing and journalism.

I’ve also recently completed a course in digital marketing and am a real advocate of social media as a PR tool – if you want to hear about some of the latest social media news, trends and tips follow my twitter account @VickieCollinge

My main interests are in the creative arts, most notably classic literature and music. I taught myself piano at a young age (though I am by no means an expert!) and eventually went on to learn to play my dream instrument the saxophone. I am always eager for a new challenge and am looking forward to working with the team on innovative PR activity.

Q: Why do you use PR?

A: We use PR [...]]]>

For some recruitment businesses, the decision to undertake PR can be a hard one. Recruitment is hugely results driven and ROI is easily measurable. PR is different, and it can take some time to see results. With this in mind, we thought we’d feature a Q&A in each newsletter with a recruiter who uses PR, and why they do so. This edition we speak to David Leyshon, MD of specialist technical and engineering recruiter, CBSbutler.

Q: Why do you use PR?

A: We use PR as a key element to achieving our ultimate business goals: namely to promote the company as an employer of choice, build the brand amongst target communities and, in all cases, to create positive messages for the market place.

Q: How do you measure ROI?

A: ROI within PR can be somewhat qualitative. While loose financial returns can be applied to media insertions, we largely base it around feedback from stakeholders. And in the case of candidates, the number of applicants who refer to key PR events, such as awards.

Q:What advice would you give to recruitment businesses considering PR?

A: Be clear about your priorities and business objectives, define your strategy and agree a set of expectations via measurable service levels e.g. the number of media articles per quarter. Once you’ve decided on your goals, hold regular reviews to discuss performance and fine tune the approach and tactics used. Be prepared to enter into a two-way partnership; the quality of work delivered by PR professionals is highly dependent on the material your team offers up – they cannot perform miracles!

Campaign: The Global Snapshot

Client: Antal International

Budget: £25,000 annual budget

Antal International, a management recruitment specialist, operating in 30 countries worldwide, appointed BlueSky PR to look at the marketing challenges generated by its global reach. Whilst the 75 individual offices were well known within their domestic markets, its [...]]]> For those still not convinced of the benefits a bit of PR can do, we’ll be featuring a range of case studies to show you what you can do, and often on a small budget.

Campaign: The Global Snapshot

Client: Antal International

Budget: £25,000 annual budget

Antal International, a management recruitment specialist, operating in 30 countries worldwide, appointed BlueSky PR to look at the marketing challenges generated by its global reach. Whilst the 75 individual offices were well known within their domestic markets, its overall global brand awareness amongst potential candidates and clients needed improving. Antal asked BlueSky to come up with a campaign.

Objectives:

• To raise awareness of the Antal brand on a global basis
• To keep the costs of the project down. Previous quotes from a major international PR firm had come in at £350,000 annually.

Strategy and plan: 

In order to keep the cost of the project down without sacrificing quality, the PR team came up with the idea of a simple quarterly survey which would monitor hiring and firing levels of managers and professionals in key markets around the world. The PR team knew this would appeal to both specialist and generalist media because employment trends are often are a reliable indicator of wider economic ones.

The survey, limited to four basic questions – are you hiring now, do you plan to hire in the next three months, are you firing now, are you planning to hire in the next three months, was carried out by Antal’s own consultants. The PR team reasoned that by including the consultants in the research would not only keep costs down, but also provide a valuable business development opportunity giving them a reason to contact potential clients.

With the research completed, the PR team turned it into a written report and then produced press releases tailored to each country.  The report was used for marketing purposes and the press releases were distributed on a global basis.  The PR team produced a ‘guide to dealing with the media’ so individual offices could distribute the releases to the local media without incurring large fees to use a news wire service.

Measurement and evaluation

The campaign generated hundreds of pieces of coverage in diverse media such as the Financial Times, CNN, Spain’s El Mundo, The Times of China, the Gulf’s Arabian Business, as well as TV interviews on stations such as CNBC.  All this has resulted in brand recognition and credibility on a global basis.

Results

As a direct result of the survey, Antal secured several new clients on a global basis. This included companies in the UK, Netherlands, China, Poland, India and the Middle East. During the 2 months following the release of the survey, the Antal website also experienced a 20% increase in unique users.

Q: Why do you use PR?

 A: We use PR to [...]]]> For some recruitment businesses, the decision to undertake PR can be a hard one. Recruitment is hugely result driven and ROI is easily measurable. PR is different, and can take some time to see results. With this in mind, we thought we’d feature a Q&A with a recruiter who uses PR, and why they do so. This edition we speak to Adrian Kinnersley, MD of multi sector professional recruiter Twenty Recruitment Group

Q: Why do you use PR?

 A: We use PR to reach our three main audiences – clients, candidates and potential employees, Without having a PR strategy in place we simply wouldn’t get ourselves in front of the right people in the right way. PR has been instrumental to our success not only in winning new business, but also in reaching specialist candidates because the coverage we have gained has positioned us as real experts in our field.

Q: How do you measure a ROI?

A:  The biggest ROI we have seen is winning a new client by ensuring that we use our press coverage as an inherent part of our pitch. We took a piece of coverage to a client meeting which featured us talking about the energy trading space in a commodities publication. That really differentiated us from our competitors and won us the assignment. We also monitor our website traffic following blog posts, and the increase in Twitter followers over each quarter.

Q: What advice would you give to recruitment businesses considering PR?

A:  Remember that the effect of your PR efforts may take some time to show, and it needs a sustained approach.  It might take a couple of months before the phone starts ringing following an article you have written, but be patient and remember to use the coverage gained in your own marketing to clients.

Having studied Public Relations at Bournemouth University for four years and working in industry for a further two, I can honestly say that I love the world of communications. I have been lucky enough to be involved in some interesting and unique projects in the past, and I will be bringing on board  all of the skills and lessons I have learnt along the way.

People often ask why I chose such [...]]]> Hi I’m Andie, the newest member of the BlueSky team.

Having studied Public Relations at Bournemouth University for four years and working in industry for a further two, I can honestly say that I love the world of communications. I have been lucky enough to be involved in some interesting and unique projects in the past, and I will be bringing on board  all of the skills and lessons I have learnt along the way.

People often ask why I chose such a specific degree and remark on my interesting career choice. But picking a degree in Public Relations was an easy decision to make –  I have always wanted to be  part of the communications industry. At the tender age of 14, I was required to make the drastic decision of where I would complete my two weeks work experience as part of a school project. Having always loved English and Media Studies, I had no idea what kind of career I could follow, but decided that a placement in the PR department at my local council would be a good  starting point, (even though I had no clue what PR actually was!). Understandably, the work at a local council wasn’t the most extravagant or thrilling experience, but I soon caught the PR bug and thoroughly loved my work experience. From that day onwards there was no other career path I wanted to follow, so  I set my sights on becoming a PR practitioner and have never looked back.

I have worked in a variety of environments, from charity PR to construction PR, through to helping students develop and create PR and campaign strategies on subjects they feel passionately about. I am now looking forward to working in the recruitment sector.

My main interests include politics and reading, but I am also a massive film geek and love nothing more than a DVD session of some classic films. I have a strong passion for volunteering and try to give as much time as I can to help charities with their hard work.

I have joined BlueSky as the latest Account Executive and will be working predominately on the recruitment side of the business. I look forward to facing new challenges at BlueSky and hope to meet and work with some of you in the future.