Well, that's a wrap!

So it comes, time for my illustrious stint as the Westfield Carousel PR Intern has come to an end! I am happy to announce that the company has offered me a full-time position at the end of my University degree and although not directly employed as a PR professional, I have my foot in that proverbial door! 

I would like to focus my last blog on some key learning’s I received form my time as an intern for Westfield Carousel, the learning’s pertain to both the PR profession and the development of a career in general. At Carousel, we have a Big Ideas room, filled with bean-bags, and a white board with employee’s favourite quotes. In light of this, my last blog will be a collection of these quotes as key learning’s. 

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

One on of my first days as in my role the Centre Manager quoted Aristotle, the words rung in my ears and almost six months later they still run through my head. I wish someone had given my some advice like this at the beginning of my University degree; to shed some light on the fact that while you may get high distinctions one week, you’ll never get through a course with a committed constant effort. The same rings true for the professional environment. If you give a substandard effort, no one will turn around and say “that’s ok, last week you did really good.” To be a professional you need to be at your best at all times.

Attitudes are contagious, is yours worth catching?

This quote pertains to the corporate culture of Westfield. I have noted the company to have an attitude conducive of hard work, comradery and innovation. When there are challenging times, the PR department needs to step out and put on a facilities hat, or vice-versa. I have learnt from my peers blogs and speaking to others in the industry that this environment is not as common as I thought it was. The Westfield Corporate culture is one which I can definitely see myself being a part of, and specifically to PR I believe that an in-house role (rather than consultancy) is for me.

Don’t pray for better winds, while your competition is setting bigger sails.

While this is particularly relevant for the retail industry, with competition heightening and online shopping seeming to threatened the existence of bricks and mortar forums, I also believe it’s incredibly relevant to the profession of PR. PR in itself is a daily competition, competition to get the most coverage, most attendees at an event, best feedback from customers or clients etc. In a time where technologies are moving so fast, traditional media forms are diminishing in importance, firms have to be at the forefront of change to be successful. Instead of inferring that letter box drops haven’t been as effective as they once were and as a result no one came to an event, your competition is probably reaching YOUR audience through something more innovative than a letterbox drop. This is the thinking that constantly needs to be applied at Westfield, and I would think any role engaging in PR practices.

It has been a whirlwind and absolute pleasure engaging in a PR Internship at Westfield Carousel, and I would strongly recommend it to future interns as it gives a broad range of experience only a shopping centre could provide. I can't thank my supervisor (Marketing Manager) enough for her guidance and advice throughout my internship, I hope one day I can provide the same inspiration for a budding public relaitons professional.

I have included a few pictures below of my time within the inernship. Thanks everyone and happy shopping!