Thrown in the Deep End

My internship at Perth Fashion Festival began very quickly when I saw the position advertised on the PR Internship blackboard page. As soon as I saw Perth Fashion Festival (PFF), I knew i had found an internship and an organisation which I would enjoy working in. There were two different positions offered; one a paid position as gift bad co-ordinator for the events and a two-week internship in the sponsorship department, both jobs started ASAP. Originally I was torn between which job I should apply for, but after considering what I wanted to get out of the internship I decided to apply for the sponsorship internship. After quickly writing a resume I sent off and email, and spent a very long night waiting for a reply. The next morning I received an email asking me to come in for an interview as soon as possible. Instead of being excited about the opportunity, i was so nervous because i had no idea what to wear, or what to say in an interview.

As you might have guessed the interview went well and I was asked to start two days later.  Walking into that office on Monday, I was so anxious because I had no idea of what was expected from me, all I knew was a that i was filling in for the sponsorship manage on leave.

For those of you who don’t know much about PFF I will elaborate for you:

Perth Fashion Festival is an annual fashion festival with over 30 runway, retail and offside events. The festival runs for 11^th- 16^th of September and has a range of free to public and ticketed events.  Founded in 1999, PFF’s mission is to celebrate, nurture and be an advocate for all aspects of the WA fashion industry. This year is PFF “Crystal” 15^th festival, that promises to be the most dynamic and inspirational yet.

During that first two weeks I was thrown into the deep end with proposal writing for potential sponsorships. As this was something I have never done before I found the marketing style of writing hard to master as I am used to factual PR writing. However, after many hours spent writing proposals for wineries, corporates and airlines (and everything inbetween), I picked up the skill of writing sponsorship proposals.  Other jobs included liasing with sponsors to ensure we were meeting there needs. Unfortunately, another job was to cold call wineries and entice them to sponsor PFF's runway and small events. Cold calling is something that I have absolutely loathed in the past so I was very nervous about doing it. However I found once I had a script and knew what I was talking about, I felt a bit more comfortable.

At the end of the two weeks I was so glad to have opportunity to experience public relations and business development at PFF. Even from the small jobs to the daunting, such as writing up contracts, I was relieved to see that all the theory and knowledge gained from uni has finally come into place. As it turned out my supervisor could do with some extra help so she offered for me to continue the internship until the festival!

Beginning a PR Internship: Nerves & Excitement

Well, where do I start …

My name is Rachel Shortte and my internship placement is at the City of Perth.

Before I commenced my internship, I was filled with all sorts of emotions; excitement, nerves and I was unsure what to expect, which I am sure almost everyone else experienced as well. I conducted some research into Public Relations internships by looking over past blog entries and academic journals. The research reassured me that undertaking an internship would assist to build confidence and gain practical experience, “through internship experiences, students become more independent, ambitious, and focused” (Daugherty 2011, 470).

Daugherty (2011) mentions that some of the main aims for Public Relations interns, which I concur with, are to; acquire skills, develop a richer understanding for the specialisation area, gain real life experience and proactively seek future benefits; including job opportunities and the establishment of a portfolio. I thoroughly recommend that other students take the time to read the article – ‘The Public Relations Internship Experience: A Comparison of Student and Site Supervisor Perspectives’. The article gives an insightful overview of the Public Relations internship experience from the perspectives of students and supervisors.

I began my internship in mid-August, and so far it has been an incredible experience (on my first day I even got to meet Lisa Scaffidi!). Each day of my internship there has been an abundance of opportunities for me to learn and develop my Public Relations skills. Everyone within the City of Perth that I have come into contact with is welcoming, supportive and genuinely lovely people, especially the Public Relations & Communication Team.

Although only having been in my internship for a few days, I can most certainly understand the importance of undertaking both theoretical study at university and applying the theory learnt in an internship placement. Internships enable students to put what they have learnt into practice and to shape their knowledge into a practical sense.

Until next time, keep enjoying your placements!

Rachel

(Written: 31^st August 2013)

 

Reference:

Daugherty, Emma L. 2011. “The Public Relations Internship Experience: A Comparison of Student and Site Supervisor Perspectives.” Public Relations Review 37 (5): 470 – 477. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.09.010.