‘I thought it was crazy, but I got the job,’ Raptor PR’s Clara Vazquez explains her PR game plan

Some graduates know exactly what they want to do.

There's a degree of comfort in that certainty. If you studied nursing, your career trajectory is fairly obvious.

For Clara Vazquez, account executive at games industry agency Raptor PR, who got her degree in English literature from Durham University in 2023, she realised her skillset was versatile, unfixed and flexible.

“I had a lot of things I knew I loved doing,” explains Vazquez who knew she loved telling stories and working creatively. A job in PR was on her list, but she wasn’t sure where to “focus” her efforts.

Without yet realising it, Vazquez handled this conundrum in an extremely public relations-coded way, and threw herself into research mode. Instead of taking a stab in the dark about her career choices — she enrolled herself on to several different PR internships.

Then, she took a risk with an email and it changed the trajectory of her professional life forever.

Playing the long game

“I always knew I wanted to give PR a go, but it felt like a very big world out there with lots of niches and different jobs.

“I was able to do a couple of internships in different sectors, which was really insightful. I got to understand the day-to-day tasks, how things work and talk to people who are quite senior in PR.”

The internships — some of which were held at The Beautiful Truth and ICR Consilium — made her confident that a career in PR was in her future, and spurred Vazquez to start her job hunt.

Yet, she did not rush.

“It must have been about a year of internships, applying for jobs, understanding where I fit in, what I would enjoy, and what employers would want.”

During one of her internships, she was offered advice that scored her first job in PR.

“I was told that it's very important to not just apply to roles that are listed online, because they get thousands of applicants. [They said to] email companies that I would be interested in out of the blue as they may not have a listing, or may not have the time to be looking constantly. I did it, I thought it was crazy [but] it landed me this job.

“I got an interview from a random email I sent [to Raptor] saying that I really liked the work it did, and that I’d love to have a chat.

“I think my experience from internships gave me the core experience needed to start as a junior account executive.”

No cheat codes

Vazquez entered the world of tech PR with Raptor in 2024 and, despite her year of experience in PR she felt “overwhelmed” as a new starter.

“I am a gamer and I do know about tech, but it's still an industry I've never worked in, so there’s that element [not having sector knowledge].”

Vazquez found herself feeling self-conscious on client calls in case she said the wrong thing, or let her nerves get the better of her.

“I [felt like] I didn't know anything, which I did, I just wasn't confident in myself.”

She explains that during those first few days, juggling her need to do well by impressing clients and her new team made “simple things” like taking meeting notes stressful.

“I felt confident in many ways, but then when I was put into this role with real responsibility, I realised I wasn't an intern anymore.

“I was trying to get to grips with that, and then you quickly realise the team is supportive and not there to catch you out.

“Luckily I was being shown the ropes by my colleague who had already done my role and knew how I was feeling.”

Vazquez shoots me a smile and clarifies: "I definitely don't feel like that anymore. I've become more confident, I know that I can do it, and I put myself forward every day.

“The whole team was accessible to me, so no one was off limits and I could ask anyone a question.

“If I felt out of my depth or felt like there was something I needed to be caught up on, I was made to feel like I could ask about that at any time and that, that was perfectly normal and actually they welcomed it, which helped. I felt supported.”

The PR junior walkthrough

Vazquez, who was promoted to account executive in September of this year, advises that other graduates looking to break into PR, or those just starting out, should, “say yes to everything”.

“You can think about the specifics once you've got more experience behind you. You won't know what direction to take [without experience] because you’ll only be limited to what you think you enjoy.

“It got me out of that mindset of just going into Arts PR, and led me to find something I never knew existed and didn’t expect to enjoy so much.

“I'm quite happy with all the different things I'm learning about now, but there’s still so much I don't know, and so much I want to learn. I want to just keep learning, and I'm very excited about what's next.”

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