Hi everyone, my name is Letitia and im a student at Curtin Bentley. im currently carrying out my internship at Holiday Inn Kuching. I have always been interested in the hotel industry in particular so that's why i chose to go into hotels for that purpose and lucky enough i was accepted by Holiday Inn.
Well 1st day of work was basically just orientation/ briefings of all the rules and procedures. After that i was brought to the head of PR dept and she was really kind enough to put aside her heavy workload, taking time to show me around the 2 hotels. The PR department in Holiday Inn actually acts as the PR dept for Crowne Plaza Riverside Kuching as well which is another hotel. So yea.. I was brought around the 2 places, areas that one, as a guest, would never go to. It’s like ‘behind-the-scenes’ kinda thing. On the surface you see an elegant hotel but down below everyone is working hard to make the hotel at its best to the guests. So I find that very interesting. I was really thrilled when I walked into the hotel’s staff entrance. Thoughts of “So this is how it’s like working in the hotel’, "this is what it’s like behind a hotel" and things like that flowed into my mind. So this was basically my 1st day at work.
And as for the rest of the week, i wrote some press releases for the 2 hotels regarding some F&B promotional stuff (the PR dept. deals a lot with these promotional activities as in getting them out to the public as well as the layout so having some basic graphic design skills are really important I was told); Wrote up some description of dinners organised by the hotel in accordance of the up-coming festive season as well.
One interesting thing for me during my 1st week of internship at the hotel was that I had the opportunity to witness a photo shoot at the 2 hotels whereby pictures of different kinds of foods, specially made and decorated which I can say is really beautiful are taken. These photos are usually used as their background for their magazines, newsletters, brochures, and what not. So PR would be the one in charge of such tasks at the hotel.
Apart from that, I was also being told of the responsibilities of a PR in the hotel. What they do, how they approach certain tasks so on and so forth. Well one thing I can say is that the PR role in a hotel is quite different to a PR role in a corporate company or in a PR agency. Even press releases are written differently. The ones that I wrote were fairly long. It was more article-like instead of the short & concise releases that we write in uni. But im enjoying my internship so far. No complains. =) Seems fun to me working as a PR in a hotel compared to a corporate company or a PR agency.
Also, i received some really positive feedback for the press releases that I wrote. Other advices that the head of PR gave me was, the importance of being able to multitask. I don’t know how well does this apply to the rest of the PR roles in different organisations but as far as this particular hotel is concerned, being able to use several graphic design softwares (Photoshop, ArcSoft Studio, Freehand etc) is really important in carrying out PR responsibilities. Editing pictures, putting together a brochure or a magazine requires a fair amount of such software usage. So being able to do it yourself would save alot of time and resources. Simple editing of course.
Well this bascially wraps up my 1st week at work. Im really happy about this internship, and that i was able to get into an environment that i hope i would in the future so im enjoying it so far. Well for the rest of you, hope you guys are too. If not, then try to. i mean this is as close as we can get from working as a PR in the near future. It's a time where we can try to get as much out of it as we possibly can. So... :) Well that's all from me now.
2 comments:
Hey Letitia
Its great to see that you managed to secure a place in an environment that is actually of interest to you and that which you intend on pursuing in future. I would love to be in the hotel industry as well and before studying PR i had wanted to study hospitality.
But i know that my PR background will also lead me into it because PR is needed everywhere and that is why i feel that it is an ideal and long lasting career.
You mentioned a lot of interesting points and your post gave me an idea of what to expect in the industry. I particularly appreciated the point of how multi tasking is essential in the hotel industry. I would have to agree with you on that one and i am greatful that i was able to learn some of the skills that would be needed e.g photoshop
I feel that as a PR person in any industry, as much as there are people who would have been hired to do certain tasks, if you ar able to do them yourself , it saves so much time and you are able to produce things your own way.
You can have an idea of a promotional brochure and the way that you want it to come out, and some cases if you enlist the task on someone else, it may not come out as you had hoped. So in this case, having the skills to do it yourself works better to your advantage.
I also know that it is a fun place to work in, all the hotel events and photo shoots must be fun and you get a chance to network and build good contacts in the process. It really is an industry filled with opportunities.
Well, that is all from me and i found your post helpful and informative and i would definitely love to work in the hotel industry some day.
Sadie
Hey Sadie,
Sorry for this late post. I just saw your comment. :)
So glad and happy to hear that you have gained some insights from my experience. This is what this blog is all about anyway. :)
I definitely have to agree with you that it is an industry with opportunites and so many different kinds of experiences and exposures being offered within it. But then again, every hotel would work differently depending on their geographical location, size, and standards.
I so agree with you about being able to do things on our own. My PR manager actually told me that sometimes it is quite hard to express your ideas in hopes of having the designers to do exactly what you want. But she was lucky enough that she has a desginer that understands her pretty well.
So yea... the hotel industry is a very interesting place. Ive always think that enjoying your work as in having some fun is always important. Some people do it for the money regardless of their interests while some do it because of passion regardless of the money. So hopefully ill be able to find something fun in the future. Personally, theme parks are great and fun places as well. Something for your consideration in your future career. ;)
Well all the best in the remainder of your course of study as well as your career as a PR in the future!!
Letitia
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