Adios Programmed!

With only two days left at my internship at Programmed, I reflect on what I learnt from the experience and reminisce on the best things about my time at the company.

1. No, PR is not like that seen on Sex and The City with Samantha Jones

2. No, PR is not just party planning

3. No, PR is not just spin-doctoring

4. PR is none of these things.

Just kidding. These aren’t really the things I’ve learnt. But definitely are some of the questions I get on a regular basis when I tell people I'm studying PR. I think I'll just start linking that video (as above) to people when they ask me those questions.

Anyways...

Below are some of the things I ACTUALLY learnt from my internship experience that I will take with me into my future in public relations:

• Work efficiently: don’t leave things to the last minute, tackle tasks as they come to you.
• Be organised: stay on top of everything and always know where and when things are so that when you are asked to do something or asked for something you aren’t racking your brain to remember.
• Improve your memory: having a good memory is really important in PR as you are required to be able to recall peoples names, places, ideas etc. on the spot. This was definitely something I need to improve on and my time at Programmed definitely helped to improve my memory.
• Know how to use all forms of social media: prior to my internship I had no clue how to use Twitter or LinkedIn. This is definitely a key knowledge factor in being in PR.
• Multi-task: I am definitely a good multi-tasker, managing three jobs, uni, social life and intern this semester. This internship taught me however, how to multi-task efficiently and effectively as mentioned above.
• Communicate: communication is key in public relations. You should communicate and create relationships with every person you come across (even rude customers), as you never know when you might need their help.

These are just some basic things I learnt and improved on during my time at Programmed. Although they may seem really basic, I believe constantly improving skills in all the above areas is really important when working in public relations.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time at Programmed, it has really been an amazing experience. Being involved in the Fremantle Dockers photo shoot, creating posters and designs for Dockers/Programmed branding, and writing interesting stories for the Programmed intranet have definitely been some of the best times I’ve had during my experience at Programmed. I really believe that this “real-world experience” internship has improved and helped form my public relations skills and knowledge and I will take this with me into my future public relations ventures.

I hope you have all enjoyed reading about my time at Programmed and hope that you too enjoyed the experience as much as I did.

Bye for now!

Becky