Hi Everyone,
So it has been a hectic start to the semester! As the title suggests it was definitely a mission for me to find a placement that was acceptable and at an organisation that I was enthusiastic about working for. Unfortunately, I was away in Europe for 5 months before the semester started so I didn't have a chance to start my placement any earlier which meant that as soon as I arrived back in Perth, I was in a frantic rush to find a placement as well as get back into studying.
When I first started thinking about where I might want to do my professional practice placement I had always wanted do it at the first organisation I called. (For privacy reasons, I won't name that organisation but for the sake of this blog, let's call them Attempt No.1.) So I gave the HR department of Attempt No.1 a call, which went well and by the beginning of the next week I was offered a placement. This was great and I was very excited about it, however, due to office renovations and lack of computers they weren't able to get me in until the start of September. This meant that I wouldn't be finishing my 20 days of placement until November which is past the end of semester. Therefore, I wasn't able to accept this offer but I learnt something quite important from this experience. As Attempt No.1 was a not-for-profit organisation, they obviously rely a lot on volunteers and don't really have much room for extra people such as interns. Luckily, I had volunteered a few times for this organisation and this made a major difference to my application for a placement. I found that once I mentioned the fact that I had previously volunteered they would put in that extra effort to get me that placement. As I mentioned before they were having major renovations to their office and they were not responding to requests for internships until these renovations were complete. However, they worked extra hard to confirm my placement before the end of August so that I would be able to accept it. I am disappointed that I wasn't able to actually do this placement but I have learnt a lesson that is somewhat related to PR - Making good contacts and networking will get you places!
So after this, I had about 2 weeks to find a placement before the deadline of 12 August. I called a few not-for-profit organisations (because that was the field I was interested in) and sent a few emails off but nothing. Although some places I called sounded keen about it, I heard nothing back. At this point, I was getting desperate and just calling any place that might accept interns. It wasn't until about 11 days before the deadline I had a real think about what organisation I would actually like to work for. I also took into account my previous experience with Attempt No.1. This is when I thought about a not-for-profit organisation called The Grey Man. Previously, I had fundraised some money for them and been in contact with the Perth Chapter Coordinator about some volunteering opportunities. Furthermore, they were a relatively small organisation who did some fantastic work which was exactly what I was looking for. So I emailed the Perth Chapter Coordinator, not expecting a reply until the next week because she had mentioned that she had an event on the next week and would be very busy between now and then. To my surprise, I got a reply straight away and I was offered a placement! Amazing! This just reiterates my point before with Attempt No.1 that if you know people and network, you will be surprised what a difference it can make.
I don't officially start the placement until next week probably but I am really excited about working for this organisation. I can already think of so much PR related information that I could supply to the organisation. If you haven't heard of The Grey Man before, they are an organisation who work to stop child exploitation and trafficking in South-East Asia. They have a fantastic Facebook page where you can find out about the exciting events that they run as well as volunteering opportunities. Remember what I said about networking!This is a link to their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/thegreyman.org
I hope all of you have found a placement at an organisation that you like and are having an amazing time!
~Amy (13948287)
Bentley Campus
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