Looking The Part

As I continue my internship, the importance of dressing professionally becomes more evident. Whether your meeting clients, the media, other colleagues or holding an event looking the part is half the battle. If you want to be taken seriously you need to dress appropriately.  The way you dress and present yourself will determine how others perceive you and will certainly influence ones first impression. Dressing appropriately for the organisation also instills confidence in the client and illustrates that you take pride in your job position and the organisation in which you work for. There is nothing worse than meeting someone who is dressed inappropriately, has poor hygiene and personal grooming. It doesn’t look good particularly for someone representing a brand or an organisation.

Through my experience I have noticed that Curtin University’s employees, take pride in how they present themselves. In particular their attire is noticeably different when they conduct an event or client briefings. Black or white corporate attire is considered appropriate in the events and media department at Curtin. As a representative of the Curtin brand I was also expected to follow this dress code, and I did! Dressing professionally was not just a requirement, it helped me feel more confident and competent in my role as I attained more respect from employees and clients. It also helped me to feel like I was apart of the team and not just the ‘intern’.

Over the course of my placement I became more accustom to what is and isn’t appropriate dress wear within the workplace. As a swimming teacher currently, I now feel more comfortable in dressing for the workplace or for a future job interview. Although each organisation polices different dress standards, I have learnt its better to dress up than down and to avoid the following;

• Thongs, spaghetti straps, boardies, hats
• See through clothing showing undergarments
• Clothing that is too short or revealing
• Ill fitting clothes that is to small or too big

Has anyone had a different experience with workplace dress codes? What is your take on appropriate work attire? Share your thoughts?

Nervous on the first date with Mills Wilson

And by the first date, I mean the interview.

Let me rewind a little bit. A few weeks ago I started to prepare for the big treasure chase. The treasure was the best possible and most compatible PR internship in town, and the chase was the application process.

It took a while to get everything ready. A PR resume is a showcase, and so I had to make sure that everything I put in there was with careful consideration, and naturally that took a while.

Once I was happy with my application, I compiled and ranked a list of companies that I would approach. I wrote customized cover letters for the favorites and started making calls.

Long story short, I was contacted by Marie Mills the Managing Director of Mills Wilson, inviting me to come in and meet her for an interview.

The interview is a critical aspect of a career of PR. At the end of the day, a bad interview = no job. So I treated this opportunity as my first assignment.

I’m naturally quite a nervous person and so I thought the more preparation I’d do, the more comfortable I would be in that interview room.

Here are a few ways in which I prepared

Dressing for success

First impressions are important and appearance is key, so I put a lot of thought into what I would wear at the interview. I wanted to wear something that would be quite fashionable, yet reserved. That would convey my personality to the “employer” without revealing too much of my personal life. I did a little research on this and came across this interesting article, which you are welcome to read.

The question all employers ask

So tell me about yourself. It’s more a statement than a question and the answer is most critical. Again, first impressions are important, and this part of the interview is where the employer gets a first real snapshot of who you are. The difficulty in answering this is the fact that you could talk about almost any aspect of your life, from where you were born to what you had for dinner last night. But you want to make sure that whatever you say in those few minutes reflects your best possible self. I made sure to prepare and memorize a summary of the facts I wanted to convey about myself in that interview. More information about those interview questions here.

Know your stuff

First impressions are important, but it is likely that the interview will last more than a few minutes so you should prepare adequately and have enough to say to your prospective employer. This is why “knowing your stuff” is vital. For this interview, I made sure that I knew the ins and outs of all the PR projects I had been involved in. I could imagine nothing worse than not being able to properly explain your involvement in an assignment you had. It sounds very basic, but you must know what you are talking about, and you should have worked out a way to accurately but concisely talk about your projects. It’s also important to research the company you are being interviewed for, because chances are they’ll be asking you why you want to work for them. Read about it here.

In the end, I got the internship. Did I make use of all the research I did? No. But did I benefit from being prepared? Greatly.

Hypothetical Crises

Hi everyone, I apologise for the delay in uploading this blog, due to some personal issues I had to take some time off. I only just started again this week and it has been pretty busy at the MS Society, with multiple news stories emerging about innovative treatments that are not funded by the Australian Government. It has left Taryn (my supervisor) very busy preparing news releases and statements incase they are needed. 

This has led to my current task of creating a crisis communication plan. The plan will contain possible crises, media releases available on request if there is a crises, the steps the organisation must take to handle the crises, and a statement from either the CEO or General Manager. It hasn’t been an easy job creating a hypothetical scenario with a media release and statement to follow, as I am not aware of the extent of the scenario and how much information will be needed. I don’t have a previous template to go off so it is proving to be a challenging job, but once it’s completed I will be able to check a new area of PR off my list. 

Everything I have learnt at Curtin feels as if it is all coming together, whether it be creating a media kit, writing letters from senior management or creating a social media plan, I finally am using the skills I have learnt in my degree and expanding on them each day. I believe that by the time I graduate and have finished my degree, I will be ready to enter the work force in PR. 

Thanks for reading! Gabby

There is a fine line between what is professional and what isn't

Throughout my time working at the Perth Wildcats, I have come to understand the way the other staff act around each other, how they treat the customers and the overall atmosphere around the office.

My first couple of times going to the Wildcats I noticed how all the men wore suit and ties and the ladies mostly wore skirts or work pants. I felt this immediately sets the tone for potential stakeholders when they come into the office and see how the staff are presented. If the staff were dressed in a more casual manner, they may send out the wrong message to others.

Once I got more familiar with my surroundings and understood where my place was within the company, I began to notice how the other staff members treated each other. All of the staff are seen to be equal, no matter what their title is. Even the CEO of the company is rostered on the clean the kitchen! The staff are all extremely friendly with one another, often acting more like siblings with the play fights and jokes that are happening. Whilst the staff may have fun with each other they also know when to be serious. They all get their jobs done and work extremely hard. In all the times I have been there I have never seen one staff member arrive after 8:30am or leave before 5:30pm.

I have also noticed that they treat the Wildcats players in a friendly, yet professional, manner. There is absolutely no fraternising with the players. This would be one of the most unprofessional acts one could do when working in a company like the Perth Wildcats. Whilst it is exciting to see the players and get to know them off the court, without them there would be no business.

Keeping thing professional in every way is one of the most important things I have seen whilst completing my internship. Every person that walks through the doors is treated like they own the company. None of the staff are seen to be better than anyone else but most of all they carry out their professionalism in a manner that makes each one of them approachable.