Meet Araminta Hartley

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Araminta recently graduated from the CIPR Professional PR Diploma Level 7 so we caught up with her to find out what she thought about it.

What was the turning point that made you decide to study this PR qualification?

Since graduating from Teesside University with a journalism degree, I have gained a lot of experience in PR, including working in a communications office at a steelworks, writing content for a gas sensor company and now being a PR and Media Officer at the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS).

Having not undertaken any formal education since university, I was keen to enhance my skills and knowledge on PR and felt that this qualification could help me achieve this.

What did you enjoy most about this course?

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole course because it helped me gain a better understanding of PR strategy and planning, content, communications and engagement, ethics, measurement and evaluation. While I was studying, I felt more confident presenting campaign ideas to my colleagues due to the knowledge gained from the course.

What do you think you will do differently now?

By increasing my knowledge and understanding of PR theories and concepts, I now feel more confident in creating and managing effective PR campaigns. Which is strategically important to support my organisation’s goals and objectives, as improving the awareness of our charity helps to increase the number of donations we receive.

I’ve also learnt how to critically examine the effectiveness of our public relations strategies and campaigns so I can identify their strengths and weaknesses and use this knowledge to improve in the future.

What words of advice would you give anyone considering a career in PR? 

PR provides you with the opportunity to work in many different sectors, and you can transfer your skills into various organisations. It’s also satisfying to see your work reach a community of people through press, social media, emails and other forms of communication. What I love most about PR is that every day is different. There will be certain activities that you must complete regularly, but during the day anything can happen, it is certainly not a dull profession.

Would you recommend nesma as a study centre?

nesma is a brilliant study centre with supportive professional tutors who will guide you through your course. They not only educate you but challenge you because they want to see their students succeed and thrive in their careers. I would recommend nesma to anyone considering studying a PR or Marketing qualification.

The CIPR Professional PR Diploma Level 7 is a relatively new course which is designed to strengthen your skills to take a strategic approach to effectively lead and influence at board level. 

On this CIPR qualification, you learn practical methods, tools and concepts which can be applied directly to your workplace. The course focuses on strategic public relations and students will be encouraged to analyse critically and appreciate PR as an integral part of successful business practice.

It is aimed at the more experienced professional PR practitioners and assessed at postgraduate level.


All of nesma’s qualification and training sessions have currently moved online to support our existing students and potential clients. We are running all our CIM and CIPR qualifications via interactive webinars to replicate our popular classroom experiences.

If you have any queries, please get in touch with Lucy Davidson.