Rana Haddad must have one of the most coveted jobs in the beauty industry! As the Luxury Beauty & Lifestyle PR at Liberty London, she is also (in her own words) a total beauty junkie, accessories addict, art lover and foodie.

If it's your career dream to break into the competitive world of beauty PR, read on - Rana has some invaluable job tips to share...

Briefly, take us through a typical day and your responsibilities...

I pitch out stories to press, write press releases, arrange product mail outs to key press, work on beauty customer and press events in-store and also work on press budgets and strategies. I work closely with the beauty buyers and my Managing Director to decide key focuses for beauty in the upcoming months, update teams internally on key published press coverage and results that drive footfall and revenue to the store and online as well as liasoning closely with the graphics and VM teams to brief them on dressing press events.

To find out about forthcoming brand and product launches I work closely with brands and suppliers that I can show press during my meetings and appointments with them.

I also work with the brand founders who are always such a foundation of knowledge and with celebrities and key opinion formers/influencers - industry taste makers for VIP events and dinners.

How did you break into the industry?

I had always been very pro-active during School and University to secure weekend and holiday paid jobs that would ensure getting relevant work experience I could highlight on my CV, as well as earn a little pocket money, which always helped!

My first permanent job after University was actually in food & drink PR at a communications agency. It was a really fun job and gave me a great grounding, particularly as it was trade PR focused with a little consume PR involved too.

However, my passion was always beauty from an early age, so I sought out to find a role in this industry. This was during peak recession time, so not the best timing for a career move! However, I was determined and willing to start over and work my way up again. This meant an unpaid internship for 9 months. However, it was vital to make the necessary beauty press specific contacts in this sector.

For someone starting out, what's the best way of securing work experience in beauty PR?

My advice to anyone else would be to work hard and be willing to do work (mainly admin based to begin with and a lot of manual labour!) for free initially, until you learn the ropes, get confidence in the right field and gain contacts and relationships of your own.

Stay focused and enthusiastic. Network and use platforms such as LinkedIn, which is really great for job hunting. Beauty specific platforms are great as well. Act quickly as due to the competitive landscape, jobs fill up fast!

What you love most about your job is...

It doesn't always feel like a job, more like a hobby that I love! I love coming in to work every day, I love my team and the people that I am surrounded by. My boss (MD) is inspirational and always taking on board my ideas, there is a lot of potential for growth in my job which is really important.

I manage Juniors in my team who are great and I get to work with products that I love and really believe in! I love the satisfaction of seeing the results in form of sales numbers as well as print press, as geeky as that sounds!

It's fierce out there, so what are your top tips for networking and getting ahead of job competitors?

Stay focused, positive, determined, enthusiastic and network! You need to act quickly and seize opportunities. Having said that if something doesn't feel right, follow your instincts as it’s probably not meant to be and something better will come along.

Don’t expect things to fall in to your lap, be very pro-active. Social Media helps with making connections too and can help you stand out. Get a portfolio of work going so that you can show examples of your work when talking in interviews.

Your fail safe beauty product is...

I have a few! But if I had to choose one right now, it’s without a doubt the Aromatherapy Associates Liberty exclusive ‘Clear Mind’ Bath & shower Oil – just beautiful!