Hi fellow PR 393ers!
I have just returned from a month in the UK, doing a full time internship with the UK Border Agency. This was a very full on but super interesting experience.
I was based in Croydon, in South London, at the Home Office buildings. The UK Border Agency deals with an enormous range of issues, from passports, immigration visas, asylum seeker applications, student visas, drug searches, airport laws, illegal immigrants and security for the London 2012 Olympics.
I was based in the Border Force Communications Team, where my role was to produce/edit the Border Force Weekly with one other Communications Officer, Caroline. I had my own desk, my own computer and was given a huge amount of responsibility.
During my time with the UKBA, the organisation was undergoing a number of significant changes, three primarily which were far reaching employment cuts, the amalgamation of Immigration and Customs and a full scale industrial strike. Needless to say, I was a rather busy bee!
My first week with the UKBA, I was sent up to Wales to interview a number of Immigration Officers regarding a training course they had just completed, which enabled them to be trained as Customs Officers. I was shown a knuckle duster the officers had seized earlier that day - very vicious looking!
My tasks included interviewing key personalities within the Agency, visiting the National Archives to research for an assignment and working in the Home Office Headquarters in Westminster, Central London one day a week.
I visited behind the scenes at Heathrow, and was able to sit on Immigration desks during the peak arrivals times. I also watched a man being screened for cocaine, aswell as a tour of the CITES (Department that seizes illegal entry of animals/animal products) Department.
The month was very full on and fast paced, but I felt I gained an invaluable insight into how PR works within such a large scale British government organisation. The dynamics were very interesting, not always consistent, as especially as I was there during an industrial strike, PR was an essential component to work through the problems.
I will follow with more information.
Jess
I have just returned from a month in the UK, doing a full time internship with the UK Border Agency. This was a very full on but super interesting experience.
I was based in Croydon, in South London, at the Home Office buildings. The UK Border Agency deals with an enormous range of issues, from passports, immigration visas, asylum seeker applications, student visas, drug searches, airport laws, illegal immigrants and security for the London 2012 Olympics.
I was based in the Border Force Communications Team, where my role was to produce/edit the Border Force Weekly with one other Communications Officer, Caroline. I had my own desk, my own computer and was given a huge amount of responsibility.
During my time with the UKBA, the organisation was undergoing a number of significant changes, three primarily which were far reaching employment cuts, the amalgamation of Immigration and Customs and a full scale industrial strike. Needless to say, I was a rather busy bee!
My first week with the UKBA, I was sent up to Wales to interview a number of Immigration Officers regarding a training course they had just completed, which enabled them to be trained as Customs Officers. I was shown a knuckle duster the officers had seized earlier that day - very vicious looking!
My tasks included interviewing key personalities within the Agency, visiting the National Archives to research for an assignment and working in the Home Office Headquarters in Westminster, Central London one day a week.
I visited behind the scenes at Heathrow, and was able to sit on Immigration desks during the peak arrivals times. I also watched a man being screened for cocaine, aswell as a tour of the CITES (Department that seizes illegal entry of animals/animal products) Department.
The month was very full on and fast paced, but I felt I gained an invaluable insight into how PR works within such a large scale British government organisation. The dynamics were very interesting, not always consistent, as especially as I was there during an industrial strike, PR was an essential component to work through the problems.
I will follow with more information.
Jess
2 comments:
Hi Jess,
Sounds like you had a great experience working over in the UK. How did you get your placement there?
Things like the industrial strike are really interesting, especially from a PR perspective. What tools or techniques did UKBA use over there to manage it? Did the organisation have a crisis communication plan?
The issue of amalgamations is something that i'm also dealing with, while doing my placement at EMRC. Right now the state is going through discussions and processes on how to amalgamate most councils into a few "super councils". What was UKBA doing to prepare for it?
Good luck with your report!
Hi Aditi - sorry about the late reply, i only just saw your comment!
In regards to the PR strike, the Agency dealt with this by training up office based staff to perform the jobs of immigration/customs officers in the days leading up to the strike. Additionally, there was a lot of external PR about the strikes, saying that the Agency will not compromise on the level of security at the airports etc.
In terms of the crisis management plan - see my blog on the Olympics Crisis Testing Exercise.
I hope this has answered some of your questions!
All the best, Jess
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