Greetings, salutations and felicitations and welcome to everyone (un)fortunate enough to have stumbled so fortuitously across this, the first entry in a weekly blog by me. This is one of 6 graduate blogs and whilst I can’t hope to compete with the techno – whiz – cum – blogging demi – god that is Stephen Davies, I shall do my best to ‘keep me end up’ for the rest of the grads. This entry is going to be slightly extended (like the first episode in a new series of ‘Lost’ or ‘The Sopranos’……except with fewer palm trees and less pasta) because it needs to cover my first 3 weeks with Edelman so, either bear with me or blog off!

Blogging seems to be de rigueur in every line of work and life these days – just another set of restraints strapping us unceremoniously to our PCs and enforcing the symbiosis of man and machine, or a tool to be manipulated by us to our advantage? Perceived wisdom seems to plump for the latter and I have to admit, from the introduction to blogging we were given by the aforementioned techno whiz, its tendrils do seem to extend quite a way into the web and beyond.

Right, that’s the requisite law graduate’s self indulgent particularly polysyllabic waffle done; onto the business of blogging!

I understand the purpose of this blog is to give people an insider’s view of what it means to work at Edelman so I shall do my best to give anyone that reads this page the low-down without getting too bogged down in detail, because as we all know – that’s where the devil resides!

I started here at Edelman 3 weeks ago and whilst I imagine it would be useful to give a summary of how the application process was effected, I didn’t come in via the normal assessment day route so I shall rely on my eminently able fellow graduates to do that for me. Instead, I shall start from the beginning of where it all began.

Edelman do look after you and like a protective mother, they guide you through the early stages of life. To allow all the grads to meet each other and get the tried and tested list of awkward questions out the way, they arranged for a lunch meeting at Strada restaurant; just around the corner from the offices on the Friday immediately preceding our Monday start date.

This was a simple but effective idea and allowed us to segue gently into working life without too much of a jolt to the senses….it was also free and very tasty.

Gratis gustatory gestures aside, the Edelman induction experience is one to be respected and revered. The HR department were amazingly well organized and efficient (just add that £50 to next months pay slip, Rebecca) and took us through the various introductions, explanations and clarifications with aplomb. The first morning was spent learning about the technical bureaucracy that is necessary for the running of a successful business (holidays, pay, security issues…) and just generally settling in.

Following this it was onto the business of the first rotation and in my case, this meant getting my hands dirty in the financial department. I have to confess I had no real pre conceptions of what to expect from this rotation but all the guys and girls involved (Jonathon and Tom particularly, who so graciously picked up after my errors) were incredibly welcoming, understanding and keen to set me on the ground running. It is a credit to both this department and Edelman as a whole that they are willing to give you some responsibility so early on in the game and see how you fare. It’s not quite like being thrown in at the deep end; more like letting you float out on a batman buoyancy aid whilst your mum holds the rope from the side of the pool, but it lets you show what you can do. Initially I was charged with the incredibly exciting and vibrant task of media monitoring. Should you ever come to do this, or if you have already; you will of course realize that I am joking and that media monitoring, whilst essential work, is not the most stimulating of tasks.

This aside however, I was also given the opportunity to research and write some copy for a couple of the financial teams’ clients which would eventually and much to my surprise and excitement, end up in the national press. Seeing something you wrote appear in a paper which is read by thousands is a uniquely satisfying and gratifying experience, even if the piece is bereft of your name. I imagine the novelty eventually wears off but it was a great way to start my rotation and this, combined with the attitude of the team made me feel genuinely interested and keen to do more. I think being able to engage directly with the work you are doing and actually foster and nurture a real interest in it is key to job satisfaction and continued success. Apologies for that McGregor – esque social science style blurb but that’s an honest, if slightly textbook opinion.

The 3 weeks with financial progressed really quickly with more responsibility and even the chance to work on preparing materials for an upcoming pitch. I was always kept busy and in the loop about what was happening which really made me feel part of the team and the whole gang did their utmost to ensure I was always doing something so thanks for that everyone. I should also mention the multi – talented SMU/PA/Financial pairing of Jo and Rishi who also gave me things to do and tasks to complete, often Factiva research and excel – based pie charts which Rishi seemed to love (when I got them right!)

It would be quite dry to go into everything I did over the 3 weeks with financial but suffice it to say it was never boring. I was taken out to lunch a few times and well looked after which did a lot to make me keen to possibly go back there at the end of the rotation scheme.

Since I imagine you’re probably getting quite bored of reading this by now, I’ll try and spice it up a bit with a quick account of a couple of the fun things we were given the opportunity to get involved with during this period.

The lovely social team organized a pub quiz during the second week of the rotation with free booze, some typically healthy pub food and questions that would tax even the most gifted mind out there. Most of the office managed to cram their grey matter together, lubricate the cogs with a few frosty beverages and generally have a good bit of banter for the evening which turned into a bit of a ‘session’ for some of the grads (mentioning no names….). It was a really fun evening and yet another good example of Edelman fostering an attitude of fun and interaction and ensuring that people got to know each other.

The second event was one of Absolutely Fabulous proportions. The grads were asked (very kindly!) to help out on the landrush launch of a mobile communications client at the prestigious Century Club in Soho. Here we were to greet guests and help out in whatever way we could whilst also having the opportunity to meet some journalists and maybe, have a couple of free lemonades. The evening went off without a hitch (as far as I’m aware) but also presented me with the opportunity of some celebrity schmoozing. On the roof terrace of the club, Tana Ramsey was having her book launch along with her husband (Gordon) and their pals who included Jeremy ‘sports casual’ Clarkson and Neil ‘Doctor’ Fox….ahhh memories of balmy Sunday afternoons listening to the Pepsi chart show…..Obviously, it would have been rude not to sneak in and have a quick chinwag with as many of them as possible and if at all possible, blag some freebies in the process. About an hour and 5 ‘SpaceNK’ scented candles later the party was continuing downstairs and did so into the wee hours with free champagne and somewhat questionable dancing. All in all – another entertaining evening.

I’m very conscious of the fact that brevity is not my strong suit and that this is turning into somewhat of a marathon read so I’m going to bring this technological treatise to a close.

I’ve now finished my rotation on financial and have moved onto Public Affairs. Unfortunately, most of the team is away at the Labour Party conference in Manchester so I’m a little on my own but have been left with a list of things to do so I’m sure I shan’t be bored.

Right, that’s all for now. The next one will be much shorter and maybe a little sweeter; we shall have to see.

Tom