New Beginnings

I’m sure most of you are having your internship right now as I’m typing this and I wish all of you a very happy working! 

First, let me introduce myself. Hello, my name is Jasmine Alyssa. I am a PR and Marketing major in Curtin Sarawak. This is my first internship placement ever in my life and I am glad I have the opportunity to do it in a 5-star internationally known hotel at Miri Marriott Resort & Spa. You cannot believe how excited I was when I receive the acceptance letter from the establishment.

On my first day of intern which is 1^st July, 2015, I drove myself to the hotel and made sure that I was punctual. At 7.50am, I walked to the hotel lobby to meet the HR officer, Ms. Edna. She then brought me to her office and gave me a few documents to read and sign. They were the job scopes of my one month internship in Miri Marriott. I was then introduced to a “buddy”, Warren, who is also an intern but at the Sales department. We then went to the Career Department Center and was briefed on the Do’s and Don’t’s in the office as well as a brief introduction to the company.

Do you know that Marriott first started off as a 9-seat root beer stand and only one worker? I was impressed that they gradually expand into the lodging industry and now owns 4100 properties in 74 countries! All that hard work paid off in just 88 years. Impressive! Find out more on Marriott's story here.  We were also given our “Trainee” nametag which has to be worn at all times. We were also informed of the proper dressing of the hotel which we have to be polished and smart at all times. A proper etiquette of answering the phones was also informed to us which goes like this.

Self: Good morning, PR department. This is Jasmine speaking. How may I assist you?

After the briefing session, I was introduced to my PR supervisor, Mr. Lian and the rest of the team. They welcomed me with bright smiles and introduced each one of them. I felt at home and very welcomed by them. I thought that the atmosphere would be awkward but there were no such feeling at all. I was then showed to my desk to settle my things down. I was ready to work.

                                              

The first task assigned to me was handling the media clippings. First, I have to go through all English, Chinese and Malay newspapers. Secondly, I have to cut out relevant news regarding hotels, tourisms and airline industry as well as any promotions or advertisement plus future events from the newspapers. Then, I will paste the clippings on the paper provided and write down which publication it was from as well as the date of the newspaper. Next, I will compile the clippings and let my supervisor go through them all. Finally, after the approval of my supervisor, I will then scan the clippings. My supervisor will then circulate the scanned clippings to all staff via email.

The purpose of doing newspaper clipping is to update the staff on the current news relating or affecting the company. We will also know what our competitors’ are currently doing and improve our competitive advantage. The newspaper clippings are not only limited to Miri but to the whole of Malaysia. You can imagine how many hotels there are in Malaysia, let alone the humble Miri.

It was my first time doing the newspaper clippings and I surprisingly enjoyed doing it. It took me almost 4 hours going through a huge pile of newspapers and I was left with stained fingers after that.  The supervisor later explained to me why newspaper clippings were so important to them. It is a crucial step to examine the potential threats and opportunities through the newspaper clippings. Through this, they are able to keep up with the happenings in the tourism industry especially on the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment’s plan or laws and regulations on the industry itself.

Newspaper clippings aren’t just merely flipping through newspapers, cutting them out and pasting it onto papers. It plays a crucial role of contributing to sales and marketing as well as revenue management. The establishment can analyze booking patterns of customers and forecast room rates to maximize profit and sales. This humble task not only forecast their competitor’s moves, the establishment can find new ways and ideas to improve themselves and outdo their competitors.

I never knew that a simple task of mine will be crucial to the company. I hope that I will be able to do a good job and not to miss out on any news or articles.

"Time to open up a new chapter in life, and to explore a larger centre."
-Lilian Russell

That is all for my first blog post. Stay tuned for my next one!

Till then, have a great day!

Jasmine Alyssa Epui
Miri Campus
Curitn Sarawak University

17143743