Finding that work-life balance

Hello fellow PR interns,

This marks the second post I have written in regards to my internship at the City of Swan.

I am over halfway through my internship, and there is so much for me to write about. I want to share both positive and negative aspects of my internship experience so far, and would love to hear what you think, and whether you can relate.

I have loved my time in the City of Swan's PR and Marketing department. Working in the tourism sector has been a fascinating and exciting experience, and I have been lucky to have been a part of some significant projects so far.

Today was the Swan Valley's Corporate Open Day, an event organised by our department at the City of Swan. It is a tourism-based initiative designed to enlighten Perth businesses about the incredible opportunities for corporate functions, events and activities in the Swan Valley. The day was comprised of a tour which took attendees around to numerous businesses in the Valley, giving guests the opportunity to see the beautiful venues themselves, and sample their finest food and wine. Finally, there was a networking evening, where these guests and others were brought together at Mulberry on Swan where some of the Swan Valleys most exciting corporate activities were on display, as well as a vast range of information to be shared.

This was an exciting project to be a part of beforehand, and during. I was involved with writing the itinerary, writing up social media posts linked to the event, creating gift bags, communicating with attendees, and attending the event itself. It was a fantastic marketing and public relations event, and I am proud of my involvement.

Event involvement has been one of the most positive aspects of my time at Swan. I have been able to get immersed in events as they happen, and network with stakeholders of the City of Swan and the Swan Valley businesses they represent. I have also been able to have a role in important aspects behind the scenes, which has made my feel extremely valued.

The negative aspect of my experience is something I'm sure other students who work and study full time, aside from their internship, will experience. I only attend my work experience 2 days a week, and have done so since June. I have lived a busy life in this time. I have gone on holiday, worked, and been sick in this time; so inevitably, I have missed some weeks altogether. Thus, my internship has been spread out extensively.

The issue is, each week when I come into the office, sometimes after having been away for 7 days or more, things have dramatically changed. That is the nature of a fast paced industry like PR. I find the important things I was working on in one week become a distant priority, and completely different tasks emerge for me to undertake the next week. Sometimes it becomes overwhelming when I have to completely adapt to a new focus, and shift my priorities entirely. I have just come to accept this as an inevitable result of having a hectic and busy life! Luckily for me, my supervisor is extremely patient and simply grateful for my help in any way!

So I pose a couple of questions: does trying to fit in an internship on a busy schedule affect the actual flow of your internship at all? How do you guys cope with being interns whilst also trying to study and work?

Til next time!

Greta