It has been well over a week since I first walked through
the doors of Platform Communications and started my internship. Like many
before me who have been about to begin their internship, I was very nervous for
my first day for two reasons: a) would I be able to put my skills and
techniques that I have learned through my degree into practice and b) would I
be able to do a good enough job. There was no need to have been nervous as the
team at Platform were very friendly and welcoming.
Platform Communications is a consultancy firm specialising
in the mining and resources industry. They have an impressive client list and
their team is very talented comprising of marketing and communications consultants, and graphic
designers.
My first day was overwhelming trying to understand
everything about Platform and their processes. Every week they have a WIP
meeting which is an update of all the jobs they are currently working on and
new jobs that have come in for the consultants and the graphic design team.
There were quite a lot of jobs going on and by the end my head was spinning.
It is a fast paced office which is intimidating at first but
I found myself keeping up most of the time. I have seen improvements in my PR
skills, organisational skills as well as my confidence as I often find myself
using my initiative and taking on new challenges. From my experience so far, consultancy
is often demanding and it is an art to juggle the different tasks and clients.
I have completed a variety of tasks from researching a new client regarding
their operations, their performance in the ASX, their competitors and any
coverage in the media, managing the logistics of communication materials for
clients, creating design and job briefs, and collating media lists. While my
experience at Platform has been a positive one and I am really enjoying myself,
I have learnt an important lesson already which is something I will carry
through with me in my career as well as using the advice to drive myself to be
a better consultant.
Lesson 1 in my PR internship: I must be
ahead of the director, senior consultant and our client at all times.
3 comments:
Throughout my univeristy studies I have come to be somewhat scared of consultancy work and see working for a single corporate much more appealing for the reason you said after you left your first WIP meeting!!
Although I work for a consultancy organisation now, we are very small and only have 5 clients which are fairly easy to juggle at the moment. 2 or 3 more clients than that, I think my head might just explode!!
In saying that, I look forward to hearing how the worklaod is managed and shared amomgst the employees at Platform. The WIP meetings held weekly makes it sound like everyone is highly involved with each client in different ways using their expertise and Platform is working as a whole in bringing about their outcomes rather than allocated teams to each contract. If this is correct, that certainly doesn't reassure my fears for managing large client numbers!!
Although, I will continue reading your blogs in hope that your experience can shead some positive light on large consultancy firms and cure my fear of them!
Enjoy your time there Meaghan!! Thanks for your blog.
Meaghan I am the same as sarah was - working in a consultancy is daunting. But the more I have been in house marketing departments, the more I thrive the intensity. I can't wait to hear more as I feel I would love being busy as long there was many people to learn from and receive help from. It also seems like it has been the best opportunity for you, it is like anything if you are dropped in it, you have to deal with it. All your skills will increase rapidly! First lesson seems intense and difficult to keep on top of but I am sure you will manage - good luck with that one :)
Thanks girls. I wasn't quite sure what I was getting myself into at a consultancy firm. Tt was really daunting at first but after a few days and being thrown into it, I enjoy being really busy and have to admit that when the project I was working on was finished, I actually felt a bit lost. There is about 20 employees at Platform and they're slowly structuring the company into teams with allocated clients to make it easier but the diversity of projects is nice and keeps it interesting. I have wondered what it would be like to work in-house myself and to see the difference. I will keep you updated on my experience at a consultancy firm.
Thanks,
Meaghan
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