When asked by my unit coordinator to think of an industry that I could see myself working in, there was not one hesitant bone in body that suggested Not- for-profit. With careful persistence and courage I was determined enough to gain a placement at the Western Australian Council of Social Service. After a few phones calls and emails, I was lucky enough to begin my placement at WACOSS on the 31st January 2013. Here, I have been assisting the Membership and Communications Manager and the Director of Corporate Services with various projects.
My first day was a little daunting, being the new person and a student there is often a lot of pressure and expectations that are placed on us as we are expected to have more knowledge and experience just because we have degrees. I was firstly introduced to the other members of staff in which were all welcoming and wonderful people, I was given a tour of our workplace, and I was asked to sit with the Director of Corporate Services and the Membership and Communications manager for a briefing. My first day also consisted of my director and manager discussing what our first project would be and what my responsibilities would include. It was my job to firstly read various annual reports, read the constitution, and research the community sector in Western Australia and Australia.
The first major project I was asked to work on included the membership review for 2012-2013. WACOSS maintains a long list of member organisations and individuals that look to WACOSS to assist them in working effectively with members of the community. The last membership review was conducted in 2009 in which included new research to be conducted, a survey and previous data comparisons to take place. It was my job to review the survey of 2009 and make suggestions of improvement that I thought would be appropriate in ensuring WACOSS could get the results they needed to make improve services they are providing to members.
Later on that day, the Corporate Services department in which I was placed in, held there monthly meeting. Here each staff member was able to tell me what their positions were in the organisation and what they do in each of their specialized areas. With a new team being developed in corporate services it was evident that new processes, systems and ways of communication needed to be developed in order for the team to work effectively and collaboratively. I was able to suggest having staff activities at each meeting so that staff could get to know each other and work well together. This provided me with an insight into how important internal communications is when working in larger team.
After my first day, I will not lie in saying that I was left shaking in my boots! I did question my skills and knowledge and wonder if what I had learned in my degree and through other work experience had taught everything I needed to know.It is a little confronting when entering a new organisation and learning a whole new world. But then I remembered it was only the first day and this placement will teach me more skills that will help me in my career in Public Relations.
I look forward to viewing other blog posts and seeing the different placements my fellow students have experienced!
1 comment:
Hi Carla,
I wanted to let you know I felt the same way on my first day. There was a little bit of information overload and it took me a couple of weeks to feel more settled in.
It was interesting you noted that WACOSS was undergoing some internal restructure. I experienced the same at Diabetes WA. I joined the team at a time where internal chains of command were being reorganised, which added a whole new dynamic to work with.
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