ABOUT

Tell us who you are!

My name is Maleek. I am 23 years old and work at Hill+Knowlton Strategies as an Account Executive in their Corporate Affairs+Advisory team.

So what do you actually do?

I research and compile weekly/monthly reports for different clients. Some reports are short reports which monitor key themes that the client is interested; other reports are in-depth and provide recommendations to the client on the approach they should take for a key issue or trend. Since I also sit with the Public Affairs team, I do a fair amount of lobbying. This could be anything from organising roundtable events in Parliament to meeting with MPs, Lords or policy influencers with our client.

What has your career path been?

At university, I would have never thought I would get into the PR & Communications industry. Initially, I had always wanted to get into management consulting and whilst I did secure an offer in this industry - I knew that it was not for me. I graduated in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, and I decided to not take the role so I could essentially take a gap year to figure out what I wanted to do. At times, I was in regret of not taking the role given that the pandemic made it super difficult for fresh graduates to secure jobs but I knew I would discover and find something I am interested in. I had discovered PR & Communications, and I was particularly keen on Public Affairs. I applied to so many jobs, but it seemed that the industry was difficult to get into especially as an individual from an ethnic minority background. During this time, I also wanted to study Environmental Policy at the University of Cambridge but I was unsuccessful in receiving a scholarship to fund the programme. I honestly did not have any more backup plans or know what to do, and then I remember stumbling across the Taylor Bennett Foundation's PR and Communications Programme (which I recommend to any person of BAME background hoping to get into the industry). I applied for their 10 week programme with HSBC and was successful in getting a place on the programme. It was here when I finally got my break through. TBF and HSBC helped me navigate the early stages of my career, allowing me to learn new skills and gain an insight into the industry. By the end of the 10 week programme, I was fortunate to have multiple offers from several PR firms and it was H+K that I decided to go with because I felt that there was a strong leadership team there that could help nurture and propel me further.

What is the best part of your job?

Easily, the best part of my job is organising parliamentary events. Whilst there is a lot of pressure for an event to go perfectly as well as the demand to have key targeted individuals attend the event, it is extremely fulfilling to see the end result. You get to see the effort you and your team put in to make the event happen. A lot of the events often occur in the House of Commons, so it is quite nice to visit the HoC and see parliamentarians live in action at the event.

Why do you do your job?

Growing up in inner-city Birmingham and attending a state school, a lot of people like myself never had the opportunity to truly have a positive impact on society. I always had an interest in the environment and working to better D+I issues, and this job allows me to have that positive societal impact. I am able to make recommendations with my team to large corporations and organisations on these areas, and when they do take onboard any recommendations, it feels great to see that our work is contributing towards achieving equity in our society.

One piece of advice for someone starting in your role?

Never let go off the hobbies that help you escape the world.

For someone starting this role in this industry, you will almost definitely have to adjust to the quick nature of the role and there may be times where your work-life balance may suffer. During these times though, never let go off those hobbies that let you escape the world. If you do, your mental health may take a toll and you might burnout, something that can easily happen to individuals in any industry.

DAY IN THE LIFE

It sounds cliché to say that no day is the same but every day is different given the nature of my role. For the most part though, the activities I do outside of work are pretty much the same.

Let's start with when I wake up in the morning. So I would wake up early in the morning, and after brushing my teeth and showering etc.. I would either head to my desk or head to the office. I tend not to eat in the mornings and essentially fast until 2pm.

Once I am at my desk, I begin with reading and replying to any emails that I have received. This usually takes 30 minutes to an hour depending on how much emails I have gotten. My time is divided on the client accounts I work on. I produce weekly/monthly reports on ESG (Environmental Social Governance). The weekly report would monitor relevant trends on the EU Taxonomy, Lobbying, and Sustainability Reporting. The monthly report would be an in-depth report on industries who operate in challenging sectors and their approach to ease environmental challenges. I work on another monthly report which focuses on D+I, so I would be capturing important trends/news on themes that will impact our client. These include Human Rights, Wealth, Race etc... After compiling the relevant news and announcements that will a direct implication on our client, I would make recommendations to the client on any approaches they would need to take.

As part of the Corporate Affairs+Advisory team at H+K, I also sit within their Public Affairs team so I do a fair amount of work with clients who seek to build relationships and work with policy influencers. For some time periods, I am focused on securing meetings with high-profile MPs and Lords as well with policy influencers so I would have to draft and send an email invitation for a meeting request to these individuals. A lot of these individuals are extremely busy, so I would have to follow up with them via calling their parliamentary offices to ask for a response.

At some periods of time, clients would want to organise parliamentary events. This can be in the form of launches or roundtables. This would involve creating a stakeholder map of the type of attendees that the client would like to attend. My team and I would then create an Excel list which we will then populate with all names of individuals who will be invited. This could range anywhere from 60 to 400 people. Once all individuals have been identified, I would send out an invitation through a large mail merge and then monitor RSVPs. Whilst it does seem straightforward, it can become difficult at times to secure high-level speakers and attendees for the event so I always create a contingency plan which is usually to tap into my network or any of my colleagues' networks.

The day is pretty fast paced and the day usually goes by very quick! By 5:30/6pm, I usually log off and I would eat a meal before heading to the gym or going to the local muscle park to do calisthenics. During this time, I have no stresses in the world and all I can think about is working out and having a great time with my friends.