Raise Your Game: What do you do?

Simon Rimmer: Basically I manage all the media enquiries for the Wales team. They started in camp today for the Six Nations Championship, so anyone who wants to talk to the players or coaches comes through me. I also brief the players and coaches on what sort of questions they're going to be asked, and try to have a little bit of influence over what, ultimately, ends up in the press.

RYG: How did you get this job?

SR: I went through the traditional route of school, GCSEs, A Levels, then university. I left university not really knowing what I wanted to do. I did an English and Philosophy degree. I wanted to work in sport but wasn't ever going to play sport, so I did a public relations post-grad diploma at Cardiff Journalism School.

On the course, there was work experience for the company I now work for, Westgate Sports Agency which has the contract with the Welsh Rugby Union.

RYG: What's a snapshot of a day for you?

SR: There isn't really an average day, there's variety, which is part of what's great about it. The average day during a Six Nations Week is like today - a press conference at 8:30, the players go off and train and I go back and check emails and think about whether there's a story we can release today, or if there's a press release or a sponsorship announcement I need to be working on.

When the Six Nations aren't in flow, I work on the Heineken Cup Rugby, so that's going to club games at the weekends. We look after a couple of websites as well and a lot of different sponsorship clients, so it's planning for the year.

RYG: Your job is very much about communication. Have you got any tips?

SR: The reason that education is important, is that you've got to be able to spell things properly, be able to understand what people are saying. You don't necessarily have to be a gregarious character who does lots of TV interviews, and has a beautiful face - I mean I've got a beautiful face for radio as goes the old joke! But a bit of diligence and being a bit of a pain to people - nag a few people until they give you a job - is the way forward.

When we first started 8 years ago I think we had one computer in the office for a staff of 10. It didn't even have email. Now everyone's got a computer and email. You used to be able to do your job by picking up your phone and talking to people, but now a lot of that is taken over by sending and reading emails and firing emails back to people. It's not necessarily replaced ringing someone up because of the one-on-one thing you get over the phone, but it makes your working life more efficient.

RYG: What are the highlights of this job for you?

SR: Match day, event day, is the best day. You feel part of the team. This is the Welsh rugby team - everyone wants to play for it, but if you can't play for it, you'd like to be involved. On a match day, you sit behind the bench where the subs are sitting. I've got to manage the press conference and I've got a couple of interviews in the morning which I've got to prepare people for, but once it kicks off, I'm a fan like everyone else and sit there watching. You get to know the players a bit more so it's almost like you're watching your mates but they're playing international rugby. That's the highlight.

RYG: And any lowlights?

SR: Oh, it's very poorly paid [laughs] - if the boss is watching!

RYG: Advice to anyone who wants this job?

SR: Get the degree, then keep at it. There are a lot of different ways to get involved, there wasn't really a clear path available to me, but I kept plugging away. I came out with a degree, but trying to get a job didn't work so I did a post grad and kept trying. The post grad helped me get a few different contacts and I was quite diligent about it.

I sent my CV to lots of different places - I didn't put all my eggs in one basket. I was happy to do something that was just slightly related to sport and got into something that was even more related and I haven't looked back.

Rugby clubs, particularly in Wales, don't have a lot of money or resources so are always looking for volunteers. A great way to start would be to go down to your local rugby club and ask to help out or follow the press officer around for a bit. We've all done stuff for free for a certain amount of time to prove that we can do it and get the experience at doing it and establish the contacts.