Jacob Hartmann
Interested in Green Policy, Diplomacy & International Development.
Web design | Career | About me
Career
At 21, I'm only at the beginning of my Career, but take every opportunity I can to develop my knowledge, skills and network.
I have a particular desire to work in or around Green Policy, Development or Diplomatic based roles and environments.
If you know of roles in this area, I would highly appreciate a message!
Research Executive at
FleishmanHillard EU
FleishmanHillard EU
2023-2024
FleishmanHillard is the leading and largest EU Government Relations, Public Affairs and Communications consultancy in Brussels.
Director at the
York Student Think Tank
York Student Think Tank
2022-2023
A student-run think tank at the University of York, YSTT aims offer members an unrivalled opportunity to develop skills and experience the world of policy-making from the inside. Additionally, it produces policy papers and a weekly political journal.
Executive Committee Member of the
Truro City Youth Council
Truro City Youth Council
2019-2021
In 2019, I was elected by my College to become part of the brand new executive committee for Truro City's Youth Council. We established the very first constitution, created committees and worked with the Mayor and City Council to produce, develop and scrutinise policy of both the Youth and City Council.
An intern's peek into the Brussels Bubble – My placement year in Public Affairs
What's Public Affairs like? | Working at FleishmanHillard | Into the Bubble...
As part of my Politics and International Relations degree, I spent 10 months working at FleishmanHillard EU, the leading EU government relations, public affairs and communications consultancy in Brussels.
In this blog, I want to run through my experience and help future students decide whether a placement in public affairs might be right for them and for future interns whether Brussels is the place to be! (Short answer, it is!)
What's Public Affairs like?
+tips for incoming interns
In honour of a colleague who really knows his stuff, let's go through this checklist-style.
1. You are quite often surrounded by experts
+ Take on board everything you can, make notes, ask questions
2. It's a very fast-paced environment. Both policy and clients can move quickly
+ Scheduling everything in your calendar is your saviour. You will forget something otherwise
3. There is great variety in the type of work you do, and the nuances of every client or topic
+ As an intern, take the opportunity to try all of the different types of tasks available. You can then carve out a space where you really excel
4. You often need to make complex information easily understandable
+ Be concise. Tell clients how exactly something will impact them. Lose the 'fluff'
5. There are a lot of systems and processes to get hold of
+ You have the opportunity to learn how policy is made and how Public Affairs professionals put their work into practice. Make the most of it
And my personal advice for anyone beginning an internship:
Know your limits. Under promise, over deliver.
Reflective of my experience (2023-2024)
Work at FH is an open, friendly and collaborative environment - where teams work together to solve key issues and provide solutions for clients. However, there is no doubt that it is also a hard-working and at times stressful industry to work in - especially at higher levels of the firm. It was evident to me just how quickly the industry can change and progress and how this filters through all aspects of the work environment. It was great to experience how FH Brussels leads the way in public affairs across the global FH network and see the solutions it creates in the offices at Rue Belliard.
At the level of an Undergraduate Intern, my experience at FH was one which fosters learning and growth, and the opportunity to create and work on your own projects and interests, where space and time allows. Though I must credit this largely to my line manager - who enabled and guided me throughout the process.
This enabled me to try out new and different parts of the Job that wouldn't neccessarily be expected of me or in the remit as an intern in the Environment Practice. For example, I worked quite often with the Communications and Reputation department to work on social media posts linked to policy developments, developing policy-inspired factsheets or working on media monitoring of key issues - including briefly in crisis monitoring. Or, I was encouraged and supported by my line manager and others to use my digital skills to better understand the use of AI tools for media, policy and institutional monitoring which subsequently lead me to develop and present a training to FH Brussels as well as colleagues from other European offices.
That's enough of patting myself on the back, but the point is that in an fast paced industry, I found the people at FH to be extremely supportive - especially of new entrants / interns - in developing themselves and the skills needed for their future careers.
The Brussels Bubble
Living in the Capital of the EU
Brussels, to me, is a lovely city to start the intern life. Sure, it has it's quirks, but it very quickly grows on you.It feels as though there is some sort of festival or event almost every other week, if not more, to keep you entertained and the people there are friendly - even if you try (and butcher your attempt at) speaking French.As an intern, take all of the opportunities you can to go out and meet people, both formally and informally. One of the forums I wish I used more was the British Young Professionals in Brussels group, which I have linked, along with some other useful websites, on this page.Not only does Brussels have a lot to offer, with plenty of museums, attractions and of course also bars and 'Plux', but being in the centre of Belgium makes it easy to shuttle off to Antwerp, Brugge, Ghent, Lille or even Amsterdam and Paris for that matter.In short - take every opportunity you can, meet new people and experience new places and cultures.
About me
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Web design
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