THESE THINGS I KNOW | TIPS FOR GETTING ON IN THE CITY
HEAD OF PRESS & PUBLIC RELATIONS AT CHARLES STANLEY
1. Never, ever turn off your Blackberry either on holiday or at weekends. You do not get a day off in PR and if you turn it off you can guarantee a tsunami.
2. Always be friendly with journalists no matter where they work or what they request. The revolving door of journalism is so fast that the cub reporter today will almost certainly be the City Editor tomorrow.
3. Have faith in the people around you in your team, they are your most powerful asset and by trusting them, they will trust you.
4. Never be afraid of change. The media landscape is constantly evolving and you need to adapt to new concepts, new thinking and new media. PR is not a desk job and you need to be nimble to its variances.
5. Stay in contact with ex work colleagues, you never know where they will end up. I was lucky enough to work in New York, Tokyo and Singapore when I was a broker and the colleagues I met there have remained life-long friends. They have turned up in all manner of roles and you never know when you need to call in a favour.
Magnus is celebrating his 20th year in the City having started in 1990 as a money broker at MW Marshalls before switching in 2000 to a career in journalism at the FT. He has worked in PR since 2004.