FIRST DAY DOES NOT MEAN FREE DAY

Hello everyone, my name is Faith and I study at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Malaysia. I did my internship at Botswana Development Corporation, which is Botswana's leading financing and development company. Following is an insight of my zealous adventure in the work force.

Seated in the office of Human Resource Principal Officer of Botswana Development Corporation, it was a surreal moment to see myself signing the employment contract and swearing to organizational privacy. I thought I would be told to commence work in a few days, regardless of my readiness, I hoped for postponement, which was unlikely.

The following day as I reported for duty, I was assigned with a task to do media monitoring (which would be one of my daily duties) and write up a staff reminder mail for the Minister of Trade and Industry’s visit for staff briefing. I was stunned that I would be handling the Minister’s visit, planning and preparing for the event scheduled to be held in two days. Then I realized that, first day of work does not mean having a free day to sit, observe and take notes. On the contrary, being hands on from the onset is a keystone to an energy driven, less supervised, creative and ingenious as well as good result oriented performance.

That is basically the foundation of a good career path; being non-contingent and having a single-mindedness character can raise us up through the ladder of success. Day one of a job is just the same as any other day, it deserves more dedication and prowess as it is decisive time of your profession trajectory and performance. As annual reports are drawn up at the end of the year, to determine yearly performance, your first day of work matters because it has effect on the organization's daily achievements.

Supervisors and bosses do not have to observe your performance in a bid to rectify your obvious unproductive mistakes, it takes discipline and respect for the work force, for one to possess qualities of a good and productive officer. Consequently, as you suit up for first day at work, put on a girdle of productivity through hard work, creativity, focus, sacrifice etc. for the day is worth your every bit of utmost performance.

As we have been exposed to how the corporate world operates, let us have the qualities required to outperform your performance expectations. Looking forward to sharing more about my internship experiences with the rest of all of you.

We cordially invite you to your internship

Greetings, salutations, hello and welcome to this, my first reflective post for PR393. My name is Blair Limpitlaw and I am currently in my final semester of my Mass Communications degree at Curtin University Bently. Like so many students before me I decided to follow the tertiary path of Public Relations (PR). Recently I (like many of my fellow classmates) took on an internship with a not for profit organisation to help me gain real-world experience and an understanding of the industry. This blog will operate as a vessel for my thoughts, queries, and all manner of conundrums to be unpacked, evaluated and explored. I encourage you all to engage with me and my pilgrimage through the fast paced and exciting world of PR.

The first obstacle I had to overcome in my PR journey I encountered before I had even set foot in the door of my organisation! One of my biggest dilemmas was of course ‘what do I wear?’ This seemingly trivial decision which I manage every other day of the week was a topic that found me conflicted and anxious.

 First impressions are always important in the professional world. The way I was going to present myself on my first day could possibly set the tone for the entire duration of my placement.  Inappropriate work wear would make me appear sloppy and uninterested or, conversely, dressing excessively may position me as naïve or out of touch.  After much indecision and a personal fashion show held in my bathroom I settled on business pants a collared button-up shirt and tie. My reception was a pleasant one and my tidy appearance was appreciated. 

Throughout my first day I ran into other small hurdles of the professional world. Meeting new and important people like the president of the organisation, conducting professional phone calls, writing letters and emails to clients and producing press releases. All of these tasks required me to be vigilant in representing my organisation in a professional manner. For instance, I spent hours drafting, editing and re-writing press releases to ensure there were no spelling or grammar mistakes, they were addressed to the correct person at the relevant media institution, and the information I was alerting them of was 100 precent accurate.

There is no room for a lax approach to PR. Clients and fellow employees have a level of expectation which needs to be met in order to be successful. The transition from ‘uni student’ to a ‘PR professional’ is something I looked forward to and the reality of the professional world has made a huge impression on me. Fortunately I have been able to remain proficient and practiced in my communicating with clients and my fellow co-workers.  After years of sitting in a classroom wondering ‘is this really going to help me in the world outside of uni?’ it’s a great relief to see the things I have been taught in class – like formatting of press releases and letters etc. are helping me execute tasks within the real world of PR.

Sweaty Palms!

I commenced my internship with Netball WA on the 20th of February 2013. I have been keeping a diary of my day to day activities and feelings, but have not had a chance to upload any blog entries yet, so I’m sorry for the delay!

On my first day in the office I was filled with a mixture of excitement and nerves. I felt so honoured and happy to have been chosen to work with such an esteemed sporting organisation and also to be involved in a sport which I love and play myself. I was quickly introduced to everyone in the office and felt very welcomed and at ease after the first hour.

 My first and biggest task for the day was scrap booking about 9 months’ worth of hard copy media clippings. Netball WA’s biggest brand representation is for the West Coast Fever which is the women’s state league netball team for Western Australia. Thus, Netball WA on average has at least one story or mention within in print news medium each day. The Sunday times, The West Australian and Western Suburbs weekly were the basis of the newspapers I collected the clippings from. It was interesting and satisfying to be given a task for which I knew what was required of me. Having studied and collected media clippings in my PR Media 250 classes last year made this task so much easier and also reminded me that everything we learn at university is relevant and useful in a real life working environment.

  By 1.00pm the media clippings were now up to date and I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. Emily (Media and Communications manager) then asked me to do some research on other ANZ Championship teams in regards to their social media presence. I compared websites, twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram accounts and made notes as to where the West Coast fever could improve on. I found this really useful on my first day as it gave me a feel for the organisation and where the West Coast fever sat in relation to other state league netball teams around the country.

The last few hours of the day were spent sorting out membership bundles and helping with a mail out of season fixtures, merchandise and information to all of the 2013 members. My first day at netball WA couldn’t have gone better! I Honestly feel like a valued member of the PR and Media team already and cant wait to keep you all updated with other opportunities and challenges dim sure I will be faced with over the next few coming months!

To find out more information on Netball WA or the West Coast Fever brand, please check out their websites!

http://www.netballwa.com.au/default.asp

http://www.westcoastfever.com.au/

Rebecca.

Welcome to WACOSS!

Hello everyone, my name is Carla Lo Presti and I am in my final semester and this is my final unit of my Marketing and Public Relations Degree. 

When asked by my unit coordinator to think of an industry that I could see myself working in, there was not one hesitant bone in body that suggested Not- for-profit. With careful persistence and courage I was determined enough to gain a placement at the Western Australian Council of Social Service. After a few phones calls and emails, I was lucky enough to begin my placement at WACOSS on the 31st January 2013. Here, I have been assisting the Membership and Communications Manager and the Director of Corporate Services with various projects.


My first day was a little daunting, being the new person and a student there is often a lot of pressure and expectations that are placed on us as we are expected to have more knowledge and experience just because we have degrees. I was firstly introduced to the other members of staff in which were all welcoming and wonderful people, I was given a tour of our workplace, and I was asked to sit with the Director of Corporate Services and the Membership and Communications manager for a briefing. My first day also consisted of my director and manager discussing what our first project would be and what my responsibilities would include. It was my job to firstly read various annual reports, read the constitution, and research the community sector in Western Australia and Australia. 


The first major project I was asked to work on included the membership review for 2012-2013. WACOSS maintains a long list of member organisations and individuals that look to WACOSS to assist them in working effectively with members of the community. The last membership review was conducted in 2009 in which included new research to be conducted, a survey and previous data comparisons to take place. It was my job to review the survey of 2009 and make suggestions of improvement that I thought would be appropriate in ensuring WACOSS could get the results they needed to make improve services they are providing to members. 

Later on that day, the Corporate Services department in which I was placed in, held there monthly meeting. Here each staff member was able to tell me what their positions were in the organisation and what they do in each of their specialized areas. With a new team being developed in corporate services it was evident that new processes, systems and ways of communication needed to be developed in order for the team to work effectively and collaboratively. I was able to suggest having staff activities at each meeting so that staff could get to know each other and work well together. This provided me with an insight into how important internal communications is when working in larger team. 


After my first day, I will not lie in saying that I was left shaking in my boots! I did question my skills and knowledge and wonder if what I had learned in my degree and through other work experience had taught everything I needed to know.It is a little confronting when entering a new organisation and learning a whole new world. But then I remembered it was only the first day and this placement will teach me more skills that will help me in my career in Public Relations.  

I look forward to viewing other blog posts and seeing the different placements my fellow students have experienced!

I hope you are all enjoying your placements! 

Until next time… Carla

The office.

Hi everyone, hope your internship is doing you well.
This is a post about my first day at work, my work environment and my colleagues.

When I went in for my interview on 2nd January, I didn't have the luxury of taking a look at the office and being introduced to my colleagues.

My first day, I didn't get lost because I had the opportunity to go the day before to familiarize myself with the surroundings. My work place is at Midview City.



When I started my first day at McGagh Communications, I realised that we were sharing a office with another company, Blue Mango.




This is the how big my office is. The first set of tables is where my colleagues and I work at and the set of tables just after us belongs to the Blue Mango team. I know you can't really see in the picture, but on the left there are two separate rooms. That is where both the directors of each company work in.








That is where I sit and work.


McGagh Communications consist of:
1. Audrey McGagh - Director
2. Elena Lim - Account Manager
3. Grace Tan - Account Executive
4. Annabelle Fernandez - Current Intern, Future Account Executive
and
5. Me - Intern

McGagh Communications is a boutique agency. As stated above there are only 4 permanent staff and they do hire interns every now and then. My colleagues are very welcoming and friendly. I like the seating arrangement because we can always communicate with each other freely and openly. There is no hierarchy structure. Sometimes, Audrey will come join us outside. Our Work in Progress (WIP) meetings are usually held in her office. There is quite a lot of flexibility and I generally feel very comfortable at my work place.
Because we work in the same place as another company, we are close to them as well. We all usually head down for lunch together.

I am glad I got an opportunity to work with such a great group of people and that they are sincerely nice and very willing to teach me.

- Sivapriya Suraindran

Curtin Singapore