All said and done!

Hello (for the last time),

Well I have officially completed my 20days work placement and find myself an interesting mix of emotions; elation, pride, relief and perhaps the stand out - accomplishment. Maybe because I finished without messing up, because I got out of bed early every morning, because I had some success in the role of a PR practitioner… All I really know is that I have come out of this knowing a lot more than I did before and have had a taste of the real world. Does this mean I have a new found sense of confidence? NO – I find it hard to accept that a mere 20days of working in PR will achieve this, but I am defiantly growing into a more confident professional than I was at the start of semester.

Unfortunately I found my placement within a company which has a teeny tiny work force of only five staff members. I guess I always knew I would not be coming out of this with a job but that wasn’t what my choice revolved around. I desperately needed to find a PR role within a company with which I had an interest and where I would have a bit of fun and be able to relate. It was using these criteria that I found and completed a very happy and I think successful placement at Perth Theatre Company. I am going to be staying on as an intern until I find myself a position elsewhere because I am greatly interested in what I’m doing and it will keep me in the industry. My boss is also being quite helpful in terms of industry contacts, which I am very grateful for.

Here are some of the areas this placement has aided me in; I now don’t feel as sick when I pick up the phone and call media reps to try and push a story, I am much more aware of my grammar (my boss had a bit of a Nazi steak when it came to grammar, but I’m glad she did), it proved that community newspapers ARE in fact as our lecturers suggested much easier to target and that the internet is a huge plain for un-paid PR opportunities.

As I commence writing my report my mind is constantly side-tracked to the recommendation section. I believe there are some idea’s which could be of great interest to PTC but feel I may be over stepping the boundaries, or being a bit naïve in stating them. However I guess sometimes half the reason a company takes on interns is to get an outside objective analyses.

One of the biggest things now that I have finished is the realisation that a lot of the ‘common sense’ topics we covered in tutorials or the ‘we will never have to do this’ lectures really were relevant in ways that (because most of us hadn’t worked in this capacity) we didn’t realise they were. Letter writing classes and interview tactics became much more useful when I entered the outside world. Perhaps that is a recommendation for Curtin – as much as we are told that these topics will be relevant and as many examples we get given we will not understand their benefits until we are actually in the work force. An idea which may need to be pushed earlier on in our studies. I realise that the option was always there, that it was purely up to us to source it… but at the same time, this was our transition from high school to independent learning, leaving it all up to us may not be the best tactic.

Anyway I have had a great time and only regret that I did not ( although I have worked as a volunteer for two other companies) do something like this sooner to make all the study seem more relevant.

Goodbye & Goodluck!!!!!!
Chelle xx