My time at Roaring Mouse

In August 2018, Roaring Mouse was delighted to open the doors of its new Chesterfield office to Nathan Makalena, a journalism student from the University of Sheffield, who spent two weeks as our first ever summer intern. Here is Nathan’s warts and all review of  his time working at Roaring Mouse…

My two main worries before starting were: getting back into the grind after a lazy student summer break, and the dynamics of working in an office with just one other person (there’s no getting away from them if you don’t click). Both of these were put to rest when 9:15 on day one when James asked, “You don’t mind Radio 6 do you?” I knew it would work out between us, and a Shaun Keaveny, Lauren Laverne double bill is one hell of a motivator.

As for the actual work, the tasks I were given felt perfectly suited for my role there, James had a good understanding that an intern would probably be a bit upset if they were suddenly lumped with copious amounts of deadlines and responsibilities but equally annoyed at being a glorified tea boy. I got busy researching a range of interesting and innovative companies in order to write press releases, article pitches and features.

That might not sound very interesting, but for a journalism student who’s found the variety of their course rather lacking (outside of the endless coverage of rampant potholes and irregular bin collections) it was a nice opportunity to pick up new writing skills in a safe environment.

I also got the satisfaction of seeing my projects through to completion. Although the nature of the writing meant I wasn’t getting bylines to brag about on twitter, I was still proud of seeing people interact with my work.

A highlight would have to be the journey we took to Warrington for a video interview. Three hour round trip with the new boss? Sounds like a would be nightmare, but we filled the time quite easily rambling on about craft beer, Ikea and everything that comes between. It was nice to pick James’ brain about his PR career in a non confrontational manner, I learnt about all aspects of ‘the biz’ and the best things I could do to set myself up, if I saw a future in it.

When James asked me to write this blog I don’t think it was his intention for me to craft an advert for budding PR graduates looking for work. Though I suppose my choice of words and affections go to show what a great time I had at Roaring Mouse.