New Tasks, New Lessons

Hey everyone,

Last post I mentioned I’m doing my internship at Platform Communications, but I didn’t explain how my first few weeks were going or the task’s I have been delegated. For a quick refresher, Platform Communications is a consultancy that focuses on internal communications, brand management and investor relations, and their client base involves businesses predominantly from the mining, engineering and construction industries. I have recently finished my 14^th day there, but I am only going to tell you about the first 10. Time seems to be going so fast.

On the first day I didn’t have to start till 9. When I arrived I was greeted by most of the staff, and shown my desk; complete with my own business cards (see below). The team then went into the boardroom and had their weekly meeting, called a WIP (Work In Progress). Everyone was handed an A3 sheet full of the work everyone at Platform was doing. The team then went down the list and the project managers would give a quick outline about what was involved in each job and where it was up to currently, and when certain tasks would need to be completed. I sat there amazed at how much work they had to do. While everyone was in the boardroom I got to introduce myself to everyone, and then everyone went around the table introducing themselves to me.

I hid my email and mobile, normally it does have information there.

After that came the induction. At the induction I was given an induction manual that outlines all the processes at Platform. This included everything, from how to use the server to answering the phones correctly. I was then told who my manager would be. My manager was also relatively new; she had only been working at Platform for 3 weeks. My manager and the boss had just come back from a conference in Asia so my first task was to compile a list of potential clients from the hundreds of business cards she received; adding in the company’s name, phone number etc. This task took much longer then I thought it would. In my mind I thought I would be able to do 50 cards an hour, meaning just over a minute for every card. In reality I was only averaging 30 cards an hour, so one business card every two minutes. This meant that completing this task kept me busy for the rest of the day. My first lesson taught me a very important lesson.

Everything take’s time

In a consultancy environment it is very important to forecast the correct amount of time needed to complete a project. I learnt that it will always take longer then you initially suspect so it is important to add buffering time. Here is an article that thoroughly explains making decisions and time management.

The next two days in the office I spent helping another senior consultant, who wasn’t my manager do a social media audit. One of Platforms clients isn’t currently using social media, but was considering using it as a marketing tool in the future. They wanted a full audit on all social media types so they could make an informed decision, and would be able to have an integrated approach. We completed this job by the end of my third day. Here is a video about the continued importance of social media in business.

On my fourth and fifth job I was given a really interesting and fun research task. One client wanted to make a video to show its new employees. I needed to do the research to help aid the script. I also got to put my recommendations of what should be shown on screen. For this research I had a specific person I had to call and interview. I wrote down my questions and a script of what to say while on the phone. I then worked up the courage to call the interviewee only to get his voice-mail, I left a message with my mobile and waited for his call, when he did call back all he said was that he was on holiday and did not want to do the interview till he came back. The job needed to be finished by the next day, so the boss told me to ask anyone I knew about the subject. Luckily I had a few friends who worked for that company and were happy to be interviewed by me. On the 4^th,5^th, 6^th and 7th day I also worked on another research project looking up sponsorships, partnerships and grants. I worked on the project with 3 other juniors/interns. The list ended up being over 60 pages long, and had hundred of options. On the 7^th day it was my job to format and edit this information. Platform has a zero errors clause, hence correct spelling and grammar is paramount. The main lesson I learnt from these days was,

That research is critical for making the most advantageous business moves

On my 8^th day all the juniors/interns had a meeting where we discussed the work we were doing, and our experiences so far. This was really insightful, and I gained a lot of perspective from the meeting.  We all then worked on a masterlist. From the meeting I learned

That if you keep working hard you will get given more responsibilities

On the 9^th day I did research for some backgrounders. Most of the information I researched was written similarly to how I had formatted my research. When I completed this task I went back to the masterlist. The masterlist will be an ongoing task throughout my internship and will take a lot of time to complete. On the 10^th day I got given an urgent task from the boss. One of our clients complained about Platform using their logo under their clients list. This company was a current client who we are working with currently and have been working with for a long time. My job was to find 100 other companies who also used the client’s logo and copy the links into a word document so the client could see that we were justified in using their logo.

So that’s been the first 10 days of my internship. I’ve learnt a lot, made plenty of lists, and have adjusted to working life and hours, (well almost, this blog is a bit overdue). I am enjoying my time, and am excited to write my next blog about all the new responsibilities I have received.  My internship will be over very soon so I plan on making the most of the rest of the opportunities given to me.