Surrounded by nature & animals- Post 3

Hi all

During my time with the zoo, I realised that the importance of public relations varies in different organisations. In mine, I felt that public relations only plays a supporting role and my duties covered more than what a public relations office should do.

Looking at the situation, I started to ponder whether or not a person really needs to be equipped with public relations skills and knowledge or can any Tom, Dick or Harry do the job since it is not as important as your Finance or Human Resource department. But then again, in the working world, can anyone divide your job so clearly? What will colleagues think of you?

 Another thing I found out about public relations is the importance of networking. For instance in the zoo, when special arrangements are needed to be taken care by different curators, it is important for me to know who to direct my emails to and to follow up with the right people in the zoo. This is to ensure that on the day of the media visit, everything goes as planned and I am able to get my job done well.

Initially it was quite a struggle as I would turn into a snail or become an introvert when being thrown into an unfamiliar environment. However I am glad I made some improvements and was also willing to get out of my comfort zone to mingle and get to know the people in the office and in the park.

In conclusion, I finally realised why our lecturer in Curtin Singapore, Robert has been encouraging the class to attend the various networking events held by Institute of Public Relations Singapore (IPRS).  We can learn through these events and hone our skills. Perhaps if I had attended a few more of such events I could have done better at the zoo.

This is an area i will have to work on. :)

Cheers!