YOU WILL NEVER KNOW IT ALL

As I finish up and finalise the end of my internship, I pack away all my new tools into my PR tool kits and realise how much the last 6 months alone have taught me. After 3 years of university you would think you would know the bulk of it and that there really could not be that much more to learn.

We get degrees at uni, doesn’t that mean we should know it all? (Or at least most of it?)

Of course not, the Curtin Public Relations degree most definitely has played its role in my education into the field of PR and even if I were to spend another three years here I would still walk out into the real world with so much more to learn.

Public Relations is an ever-expanding profession, one that is viewed so differently by many people and plays such a different role in each industry and each individual business. No public relations job will be the same as the next and every new position will require a whole new skill set on top of the foundations we take away from uni.

This internship has showed me that we will forever have new ideas to come up with, new challenges to face, but the key is to never stop learning and actively taking any steps to further your education whether it be in the industry you work in or specifically about the work you do.

It is a big scary place out there in the big wide world but I finally am ready to take my degree and my industry experience and face the world with my head held high, ready to tackle any challenge it decides to throw my way.

Good luck to all Graduating PR students, I am sure many of us will cross paths in this little place of Perth.

When one door closes, Another one opens...

My internship at Netball WA came to an end today, as I entered and left the office for the last time as a Public Relations student. I felt a mixture of emotions throughout the day. On the one hand I was sad and upset to be leaving such an amazing organisation and the fantastic people who work there. But on the other, I felt grateful and very appreciative of the amazing experience I have had with Netball WA.

Being involved in the media and marketing department opened my eyes to a number of issues and work place practices I never new existed. I very much enjoyed being apart of the marketing activations and learning more about sponsorship agreements and how non for profit organisations make their money.

Looking back now, I achieved a lot with netball WA. I posted numerous tweets, wrote several match day reports, a few media releases, several letters, and did many hours of social media research and sponsorship research.

Internships act as a huge learning curve for students, and also greatly benefit all kinds of organisations. If I could give one word of advice top public relations, communications or marketing students, it would be to intern from day 1! It is such a great opportunity to learn so much more than university could ever teach you.

I am now in the process of looking for a full time job, feeling confident and excited about what the future has in stall for me!

My final week as a student

This will be my fourth and final blog and it feels like just yesterday I was searching for my placement. In this blog I will reflect on my internship and also point out the main things I have taken away. This placement opportunity has been a wonderful experience for me, in both learning and experiencing everything Public Relations has to offer. I have been able to fine tune the basic skills that are needed to work in the PR field. I have also had the opportunity to enrich my own personal knowledge about being in a practical field. I have learnt to differentiate between what I learnt at University and PR practiced in the real workplace, this has been very beneficial.

I will now be able to take away everything I have learnt and put it to practice in my next working adventure, I feel the most important thing I have experienced is my new found appreciation for what public relation can offer any organisation. When companies underestimate what PR can do for them they miss out on vital opportunities that could benefit them. I found this especially important in building a brand,  a brand can be see as the perceptions of consumers and its importance to any organisation, as it can make or break the success of a business.

Also PR can help the company build and maintain their relationship with their stakeholders, I understood the importance of having a good relationship with not just the public but also the internal and external stakeholders, it is important in building a brand that is known and trusted to continue being successful. Public Relation can offer any organisation so much opportunity and throughout my internship I have really experienced this first hand, the main thing I have realised is how interested I am about Public Relations. I am seeing the possibilities within any organisation, I am excited to graduate from Curtin University and begin the rest of my career, hopefully in a public relations field. 

The Final Week

Hello everyone,

So it has come to the final week of my internship. I am actually overwhelmed with the entire experience and it has hands down been the most educational and rewarding experience of my university degree to date. I cannot express how much I have grown in the past three months thanks to Detail Communications.

It has really been an eye opener into all the possibilities that you can dive into within the PR industry. Pr is something that is hard to get a grasp on when you first study due to its broad nature and variety of roles a PR practitioner has to play. Actually seeing first hand the day to day workings of a PR consultancy enables us as students to put everything we have learnt into practice.



I have been lucky enough to work on a variety of clients while at Detail, such as Fremantle Festival, Made on the Left Markets and Walk to Work Day. Each client having different ambitions and objectives allowed me to view the different approaches that can be made when it comes to a PR plan.

You also understand what is newsworthy and what is not. Being honest with the journalist about how interesting and exciting the event is going to be is vital, as you don't want to come off as not a credible source. It works the same way with the clients expectations, you have to ensure they understand the scope of media they are going to be able to attain and don't lead them to thinking you can provide something which you cannot.

I hope you have all taken your internship with both hands and made the most of your oppoutnities. I think it is a wonderful way to find your feet in this fast paced industry as you quickly find out if it is the right fit for you or not. For all of you that are set to graduate at the end of the semester - a big congratulations! 

All the best everyone,

Brooke x