Hello
Fellow Intern Bloggers!
This
is my first blog post about my internship, I have been a bit snowed under with
my internship days and University studies.
I
am interning at a small family owned real estate business and completing my
final semester at Curtin. I have been helping out with the firm on and off all
year and began my official internship back in the semester break.
Unlike
many of you, the firm I am working for does not have a PR department, or a
marketing one, or anything really. There is one designated marketing position
in the entire office. Her time is mainly taken up by preparing the adds for
homes that are available for rent or purchase. This involves putting the add
for the house together and then distributing it to the relevant outlets (print
media, electronic sites etc).
Previously,
I had only completed internships in a specific PR departments, so this entering
a business that didn’t not have that framework was a bit of a shock. Initially
I wasn’t sure where to begin, but luckily my supervisor has been great at
providing me with direction.
At
this point you may be wondering what I actually do if I’m not in a PR
department. The answer is that basically I am steering my own ship. With no
established systems or projects to work on I started from the bottom. I
suggested to the firm’s management team that I give them a PR education. This
so far has entailed me briefing them on the differences of PR and Marketing and
preparing’s a report that explains their current situation (situational
analysis). I am now in the process of preparing recommendations, I am hoping
that the management team will green light some of my ideas and I will get to
start working on setting them up.
Aside
from this, there are a number of upcoming community events that I am going to
have a hand in running. I am really excited about this because event management
is something I love doing.
I
am also active on the firm’s social media and have input into our other
external communications. Social media has proven to be a very useful tool for
the firm in selling so there is an emphasis on ensuring it is always engaging
and moving forward.
So
far, coming into a firm with no PR set up has been a bit daunting. Although it
has been a challenge, I believe I am gaining very valuable experience. Having
to go back to the basics has reminded me what PR is all about and why I decided
to study it in the first place!
Is
anyone else interning in a small business or an organisation with no
established PR practises?
Thanks,
Sarah
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