“Be open to new challenges and embrace uncertainty”… Headland’s Class of 2025 offer their advice to our new trainees as they start their careers in communications.
The first week in September is always a big moment for all of us at Headland as our new trainees join the business, this year welcoming seven new colleagues. We are delighted to have Zak Alderman, Matthew Ball, Rayhan Hussain, Aimee Jones, Olga Mitala, Salma Salifu and Grace Yeung joining us to start their careers in communications.
So we asked last year’s trainees – our Class of 2025 – to write about what they have learnt over the past 12 months and to give Headland’s Class of 2026 a Top Tip. With thanks to Hayley Chow, Grace Holden, Oscar Horne and James Porter for their reflections on a year in comms.
Hayley Chow
While AI is grabbing the headlines, this year has taught me that human connections are ultimately what we return to, time and again. The bedrock of our work as communications professionals is the relationships we build with our clients and journalists, as well as with our colleagues. I’ve learned about how to deliver excellent client service, from providing thoughtful, considered advice, to flagging relevant newsjacking opportunities. Strong relationships with journalists help us shape and tell stories that are interesting to them and their audiences. And I have valued internal relationships just as much as external ones, with the chance to learn from Headlanders across the business, all of whom have been incredibly supportive and generous. The trainee scheme has given me the confidence to build all these relationships, which have been invaluable as I begin my career.
TOP TIP: Be curious. Read and listen widely, including outside of your immediate client work, because you may find connections and learnings within an industry, from a different one or a different practice area.
Grace Holden
One of the biggest things I’ve learnt in my year at Headland is the value of being a generalist and of learning from colleagues. People across the agency are constantly surprising me with the sheer amount of knowledge they have across sectors and across practice areas. In the last year I have learnt how fashion businesses communicate, while getting to grips with micromobility, online safety and credit ratings. And at Headland, whatever the question, there is always someone a few desks away who knows an unreasonable amount about it. It makes for surprisingly good pub chat, but more importantly, it means you are constantly surrounded by engaged, clever people from whom you can learn. I’ve probably learnt as much from watching other people – sensing how they think and watching how they communicate – as I have from doing the work itself.
TOP TIP: Look towards the people whose working style you admire – and learn from them. I’ve been paying attention to how people across the agency approach problems, what news they read and how they solve problems.
Oscar Horne
In the last packed 12 months I’ve learnt so much about teamwork, organisation and what it takes to get by in the corporate world. If I could give some advice to my bright-eyed younger self, it would be that communications is a broad church, and a career in this industry can look like whatever you want it to be. Headland’s expertise spans corporate and financial communications and public affairs as well as strategic research and digital; as a trainee you are in the unique position of being able to throw yourself into any and all of those. Ask the stupid questions and try as much as you can to talk to the many interesting and impressive people working at Headland. They will be genuinely appreciative and open.
TOP TIP: Try as much as you can to build your own reputation at the same time as that of your clients. Above all, be someone who is happy to try anything and give yourself the time to think about what kind of consultant you want to be.
James Porter
One of the things I’ve enjoyed most over the past year is the sheer variety – working with different experts and within different industries, each with their own challenges and problems to solve. What I’ve grown to love is knowing that no two days will be the same, whether that means adapting to changing circumstances, navigating a client crisis, or responding to a newsworthy moment. In your first job, it’s easy to think that your work can get lost in the noise of the people around you; however, seeing a piece of coverage land on a news page, or looking up at the TV and seeing your client being interviewed, you get a little adrenaline shot knowing you helped make it happen. As someone who’s always loved the soap opera of politics and the theatre of the media, getting to see behind the curtain and learn how it all ticks has been a real highlight.
TOP TIP: Be open to new challenges and embrace uncertainty – you would be surprised how many people are muddling through as they go!
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