After being stressed for weeks about not having a placement confirmed I have finally found myself with an internship in Tourism Western Australia's Corporate Communications department. I will also eventually work within the Public Relations department and the Media and Trade Familiarisation department later in my internship.
I was so nervous on my first day. I got up really early to go over my factsheet I had made of the organisation, ensure I had remembered to pack everything and to make sure I dressed professionally. I had planned out my route to the office, taking the train then walking through the city, however, I ended up arriving 40 minutes early which is a clear giveaway that I was freaking out. I told myself that being early is better than being late and sat and waited patiently.
When my supervisor arrived, greeted me and gave me and introduction to the office and its safety requirements my stress levels calmed down. All the staff in the office are welcoming and answer any enquiries that I have.
After being briefed on the Corporate Communications department's role and the remaining departments role, I began work on my first assignment with was to write a story for the corporate website.
I also wrote a draft letter for about an upcoming project and updated and contributed to the weekly e-newsletter.
On the second day I was looking over the website and it was
really surprising to see the story I wrote already on the website. Obviously I
knew it was going to be updated, however, it was just great to see that on day
one I was contributing to the organisation. I feel like it's really important
for employees to understand their role in the functioning of their workplace,
I'm really stoked that I felt that sense of belonging and contribution so
early.
In terms of my initial perspective of how the organisation operates, I believe that Tourism WA and its staff stand by their mission statement and core values, are transparent in their dealings, behaviour in a responsible and accountable manner and value their safety and wellbeing of their staff. All of which I value highly in a workplace.
On my second day I continued working on updating the
e-newsletter and wrote more articles for the corporate website. I also received
a report from a recently conducted survey then turned that in to a website
story and piece for the e-newsletter. I like finally seeing the relevance of
content studied over the last few years. This semester I am undertaking the new
PUBR3001: Planning and Evaluation unit, and although it's not even halfway
through the semester yet I can already understand why the unit has been
introduced this semester. Whilst writing this stories and articles I have
mentioned above I have also had to undertake secondary research.
The following day my work got edited by the Manager of
Corporate Communications then was edited by the Director of Corporate
Communications. I received a lot of red back on my work. Which didn't faze me
at all because I understand that I don't understand the style of the voice of
the organisation yet and also I am still familiarising myself with the
publications stylebook which is an organisation wide guide to spelling,
grammar, punctuation and word usage. Feedback is vital to understanding where
you can improve, so I welcome the opportunity to gain that insight.
Fingers crossed all works out.
Until next time.
-Caitlyn Rintoul16172526
