When I received the offer to intern for the communications team at Cicero/amo, I was in the process of moving from South Africa to the UK. My visa had come through earlier than expected, my accommodation was sorted, and I had managed to find myself a flight for a price so low that even the travel agents were shocked. The missing piece of the puzzle was, of course, a job. After chatting to friends who had pioneered the move a couple of months before me and watching their efforts to find jobs met with rejection letter after rejection letter, I had completely resigned myself to finding a temporary job and doing the hard searching once my feet were on the ground.
Then the offer of an internship at Cicero/amo came along. Having studied economics, the world of comms was completely new to me. I faced the struggles that come with any new role: teething problems and learning the lingo. Even remembering my building pass for days in the office was something that didn’t come naturally. Coming in as an intern into a fast-paced environment was like driving around with an L sticker on the back of your car. Luckily, the other drivers in Cicero/amo were far kinder and much more willing to invite you for a drink than those on the roads.
From the start, I was welcomed enthusiastically and made to feel a part of the team. I was taken aback by the patience and kindness of my team from whom I quickly learnt how to pull together morning monitoring, reach out to journalists and write press releases. I felt the thrill that comes along with seeing something you have been involved with gain traction in the media and then also had to witness the disappointment when hard work doesn’t pay off the way in which you had anticipated.
If being an intern was like being a learner driver, then moving into an Account Executive position was like passing my driving test. At this point the ‘L plates’ came off and I was entrusted with a lot more responsibility even though, on the inside, I still felt as though I was only just learning my place on the road. I can in no way claim that I am near where I want to be, but I am watching and trying to mimic the skills of those around me and aim to handle tasks with the same cool ease with which they seem to.
In one of my first meetings as an Account Executive, Iain Anderson, Executive Chairman of Cicero/amo, described to me that one of his most admirable qualities in a co-worker was the willingness with which they ‘stick up their hand.’ From both personal and team experience, this is certainly a quality with which I feel is instilled within the Cicero/amo team and it is one of the reasons why I feel so comforted in continuing my journey with the company.
This article appeared in the Cicero/amo February 2022 newsletter.
