Social Media Assistant
Self Employed/Freelance

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	Mahta H Social Media Assistant
00.04	Okay, my name’s Mahta H, I am a freelancer across music and the media. And right now I spend most of my time working on online and social networking for artists like Jessie J.
00.17	Erm, working online for Jessie J basically consists of running all her social networks bar her twitter which she does herself. So that will be her facebook, myspace, itunes ping account, her website, her blog, things like that. And erm, basically we liaise with management, press, and Island record label to basically get content coming through and erm upload it onto the various social networks on her sites really.
00.51	I see education as a tool in society which erm which actually fails a lot of the time. It lets a lot of kids down and you get I wouldn’t say this happened to me so much, but a lot of people get lost in the system and its more about right this is kinda the route you follow, you either go, you finish your GCSE’s, you either go and I don’t know do a course in mechanics or something like that or you go to college or 6^th form and do you’re A-Levels and you go to uni. That was kinda the only option we were given.
01.21	I just thought after A-Levels you go on to university. And certainly given my culture and where my parents are come from and what they’ve done that was definitely what was expected. So, I went to Reading University to study law. For er, that lasted about a couple of months. I just ended up spending all my student loan, on erm, nothing productive. And coming back with no money, but with, with the definite decision in my head that law was not for me, and that I wanted to make a living out of writing.
01.58	I ended up at Livity and Live magazine after, after the first time I dropped out of uni. Erm, so I came back, I did a bit of work experience at Q magazine which was basically just kind of doing mail and, I heard, I’d actually heard about by through a friend that there was this organisation called Livity and they run a magazine called Live which is done completely by 13 to 21 year olds, with assistance from professional mentors. So you know I just dropped them a line, I just emailed in. Got an email back saying you know just roll through, roll through whenever you want. It was really informal, it was really nice. I just turned up, there were no expectations of you know what kinda writing skill you need to have. You weren’t expected to, you know, know anything really, it was more about the ideas that you arrive with and the commitment that you arrive with, and that’s all they really wanted from you.
02.50	And for me, that was, that was my uni. Kind of just doing free work and meeting new people and trying to keep those contacts alive, and things like that. So that was, that was my education and erm I think it was for, for what I am doing now I think it was the best route to take. Definitely.
03.10	My parents don’t, they don’t follow me on social networks, no, no, no. I’ve banned them from that. My dad did try to add me on facebook, erm as did half of my family from Iran but it’s just not that kind of party. Erm but, you know my mum googles me every now and again, and she’s like ‘oh I just found this article that you’ve written’. Not in that voice, cos she doesn’t sound like that! Erm but yeah, and she’ll and she’ll drop me a like and be like ‘erm this was quite good, this was quite funny, that was a but rude, you can’t say that word in an article’. Its like, mum, relax! But yeah she’ll google me and find little things that I’ve done and be happy with some of them and be shocked by some of the others but it is what it is.

Mahta H is a freelance writer who currently spends most of her time working on online and social networking for artists such as Jessie J. Mahta went to uni but discovered it wasn’t for her. She knew that she wanted to follow her love of writing, which led her to youth magazine, Live, and eventually into a freelance writing career.

More information about Public relations professionals

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£40,040

average salary

The UK average salary is £29,813

average weekly hours

There are 37.5 hours in the average working week

37% male

63% female

The UK workforce is 47% female and 53% male

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Description

? Public relations professionals plan, organise and co-ordinate the activities that promote the image and understanding of an organisation and its products or services to consumers, businesses, members of the public and other specified audiences.

Qualifications

Most entrants possess A levels/H grades and a degree or equivalent qualification. Further professional qualifications are available.

Tasks

Discusses issues of business strategy, products, services and target client base with senior colleagues to identify public relations requirements;
Writes, edits and arranges for the effective distribution of press releases, newsletters and other public relations material;
Addresses individuals, clients and other target groups through meetings, presentations, the media and other events to enhance the public image of an organisation;
Develops and implements tools to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of public relations exercises.

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