![\"Paul](\"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Paul-Bond-1.png\")
<\/a>How are you settling into your new role at Auto Trader? Can you describe a typical day at work?\u00a0<\/b>The easiest way to answer that is to say there are no typical days.\u00a0I split my time between launch events across the\u00a0country\u00a0and abroad, and our two offices. So on any given day\u00a0I could be driving on European\u00a0roads, having a meeting in King\u2019s Cross, shooting a video or set of photographs on a new model, or\u00a0writing up our expert reviews and\u00a0first drives.\u00a0I thrive on t<\/p>\nhat kind of diversity though, and the variety of the work is part of what attracted me to Auto Trader.\u00a0I get on really well with my editor, Jon Quirk, and the rest of my team, who all made me feel really welcome when\u00a0I joined. That makes it a lot easier to settle in fast.<\/span><\/p>\n What are the most enjoyable aspects of your job and what are some of the more challenging ones?\u00a0<\/b>Honestly,\u00a0I think the sheer variety is one of the most enjoyable parts of my role. The perfect day is when you have a brand new model to test, on\u00a0challenging, quiet roads and in good weather. Getting to try new models and feedback to\u00a0manufacturers before these cars go on sale is also a real\u00a0privilege. If there is a downside,\u00a0I think people may not realise how full-on automotive journalism can be. If you\u2019re not careful you can end up working seriously long hours,\u00a0evenings and weekends, so it\u2019s important to keep your work and social life separate, and make\u00a0sure you can find the room to fit in\u00a0healthy amounts of both.<\/p>\n What plans are in place for direction of Auto Trader in the coming year?\u00a0<\/b>Auto Trader is\u00a0looking to be at the forefront of the shift front print to digital publishing.\u00a0That\u2019s why the company took the difficult\u00a0decision to close the print magazine back in 2013 (while it was still at 40k sales per month). The outcome has given the team the opportunity to embrace its digital future, concentrating purely on creating the best possible consumer experience for our 11.5m unique online users. Without a print legacy, we have been able to identify new roles \u2013 such as my own \u2013 and create an editorial structure that is better set up for a modern publishing environment and, of course, the modern car buyer. \u00a0That means being much more aware of how people use sites like ours, with mobile, tablet and other devices all just as important as conventional web\u00a0browsers. Going forward, we have a development team working to create better ways for us to present and surface our content online, as well as plans to grow our YouTube channel, and increase the use of social\u00a0media to engage with owners even more than we do currently.<\/p>\n What are the advantages of social media for journalists? Are there any challenges?\u00a0<\/b>I\u00a0think the fact that social media is so instant is what really draws people in\u00a0\u2013\u00a0going on Twitter is a bit like putting your finger on the pulse of the automotive industry, you can watch an entire motorshow unfold as each new car is\u00a0revealed and spread digitally through images, live vines and other live content. The\u00a0speed at which news spreads now is amazing.\u00a0I think the only drawback is that with less time for reflection, it is easy to make snap judgements, both about cars, and also when writing stories. Sometimes the\u00a0focus on speed is to the detriment of accuracy, which can never be a good thing.\u00a0I am also careful to\u00a0separate my Twitter personality from my own personality, as you\u00a0always have to be aware of the brand you represent.<\/p>\n How do you work with PRs? Do you have a good relationship with PRs?\u00a0<\/b>I work with the\u00a0PRs for each\u00a0manufacturer on a regular basis. They are usually our first point of contact for information and there is a\u00a0healthy symbiotic relationship between the press teams and magazines. We need them to get access to their\u00a0latest models and key events, and they rely on us to communicate and help publicise their products, while still being a trustworthy source of advice for everyday consumers.\u00a0I think most\u00a0PRs understand that\u00a0relationship, and\u00a0I think\u00a0I have a good working relationship with a large number of brands because of this.\u00a0I think clear communication and\u00a0availability is a key strength when it comes to\u00a0PRs\u00a0\u2013\u00a0there is nothing worse than having an urgent\u00a0request repeatedly ignored or evaded.<\/p>\n Take 5:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n What 3 items could you not live without?<\/b><\/p>\n Sadly most of these are all connected with my job\u00a0\u2013\u00a0but the tools you use to work often feel like the most\u00a0indispensable things as you use them every single day. With that in mind\u00a0I\u00a0would say my Macbook, which is near constant\u00a0use, whether\u00a0I\u2019m on a plane, at the office or even crouched by the road side\u00a0somewhere.<\/p>\n The second one would be my watch. It\u2019s a clich\u00e9 that motoring journalists are\u00a0obsessed with time pieces, but\u00a0I really do feel naked without it on, and when you\u2019re\u00a0pushing a\u00a0deadline it certainly comes in handy.<\/p>\n Finally\u00a0I\u2019d say noise-cancelling headphones. We spend quite a lot of time on planes, so having a gadget you can switch on to cancel out the noise and cocoon\u00a0yourself makes me twice as productive in the air.<\/p>\n Where is your favourite place to travel?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n I\u00a0love going to Scandinavia.\u00a0I have a lot of friends in Oslo, which is where\u00a0I rang in the New Year in 2015, but whether it\u2019s Iceland, Sweden, or Norway,\u00a0I never get tired of visiting the Nordic countries. There is always something new to see, good\u00a0people to meet and incredible natural scenery, and I\u2019ve been lucky\u00a0enough to have some great adventures there, it\u2019s just a shame that all of them are so expensive to see!<\/p>\n If you were invincible for a day, what would you do?<\/b><\/p>\n I would probably try my hand at being a rally driver\u00a0\u2013\u00a0I think concentrating on\u00a0driving as fast as\u00a0possible would be a lot easier if you weren\u2019t worried about being injured in a crash on the course.<\/p>\n Who would you like to play you in a film?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Jason Statham\u00a0\u2013\u00a0I once got told\u00a0I looked like a less handsome version of him, and he brings a lot to the party\u00a0\u2013\u00a0stunts, action, comedy and charm. Also it would encourage me to go to the gym more too\u2026<\/p>\n What would you name the autobiography of your life?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Catch-22<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Motoring journalist Paul Bond was recently appointed senior road tester at Auto Trader.\u00a0 Vuelio caught up with Paul to discuss why there is no such thing as a typical day at work, how Auto Trader …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":323,"featured_media":73578,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1449],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73571"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/323"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73571"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109898,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73571\/revisions\/109898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}