Just Do It

I am a perfectionist.

Guess what I discovered? I am also super creative.

During my internship I found that I could come up with great ideas in meetings and I really enjoyed working with themes for events. I got to design a logo and advertisement layout and people spoke highly of my ideas. I even pitched a few ideas to the team and had them taken on board. I gave everything a go. Sure, many things had to be edited or refined, but things got done-and with great results.

In the past I would let my ideas of perfectionism (and fear of failure) stop me from starting a project because I wasn’t sure I had the skills or knowledge to get the level of result I wanted. 

Now I’ve finished my internship and been offered a paid project. The nature of the project requires specialised knowledge-which I don’t have-but am confident I can easily learn.

Here is what I suggest:

Start with creativity

Polish with perfectionism

Just doing it is a good start

It shows initiative and ability to take feedback.

It allows freedom to bring ideas to the table.

It makes work a lot more fun.

It helps you stand out from the crowd.

 

 

I would love to hear what you are learning about yourself through your internship.

 

 “Coming together is a beginning.
 Keeping together is progress.
 Working together is success.”    Henry Ford                          

My latest project is trying to increase awareness of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). The disorder relates to the risks drinking has to an unborn baby. The impact of drinking alcohol during pregnancy can create lifelong issues that are not curable. However FASD is completely preventable. The key message is that not drinking during pregnancy is the safest option.

Aiming to shift cultural norms and changes lifelong habits to improve public health is a big job, with a relatively small team and budget allocated to get the job done. My internship involves bringing people together and equipping them to make a change in the community.

It seems impossible that a team of two people could make a change but internal communications, partnerships with other health agencies and community involvement make this possible. Some examples include:

Internal communications

• Ensuring the message given by people in the agency is consistent: that not drinking during pregnancy is the safest option.
• Training doctors, nurses and those involved in pregnancy planning or testing to talk to clients about the risks of drinking while pregnant and provide strategies to ensure success.
• Supporting employees in having alcohol free pregnancies by providing non-alcoholic options at events and planning social group outings where alcohol is not the focus.

Partnerships with other health agencies

• Developing sustainable partnerships with a shared vision of reducing incidents of FASD and using the strengths of the different agencies to promote the message (that might be time, resources, skills and abilities).
• Recognising different backgrounds and use this diversity to support development of different initiatives. For example indigenous health groups can ensure messages are culturally appropriate and help reach areas of the population that may not be seen by traditional health care providers.
• Ensuring communication between partner agencies is effective, regular and timely so that a consistent message is presented to the community. This is especially important if new information is released or in times of crisis communication.

Community involvement

• Raising public awareness about FASD and influencing the target audience to change values and behaviours. Drinking can be a social norm and people have reported feeling isolated as they are not able to be involved in social activities if they don’t drink.
• Educating and equipping people for change through workshops, events, media releases and provision of information designed to provide options to support alcohol free pregnancies.

 

Through all this consideration needs to be given to ‘best practice’ and the strong ethical guidelines around health promotion. There are many social detriments to health and long lasting, community wide change involves strong strategic planning and a long term commitment by health promotion agencies to addressing the issue.

The scope of the project may seem large but I am encouraged by reading about Canada’s success at raising awareness, and reducing incidents of FASD. This can only be achieved through a holistic approach and by working together.

My degree in public relations has enabled me to be confident in engaging, working with the media and planning events but it is just the first chapter in making a difference in a health promotion setting.

Evaluations: the end but also the beginning

I’ve just completed the evaluation for an event and it has been a very rewarding process. I can see positive results from the hard work and am able to see how we can improve on future events.

I am also helping with planning for ‘Fruit and Veg September’¹. I usually love the feeling of starting on a new project however this one felt a little overwhelming. The ‘2 Fruit and 5 Veg’ message seems simple, but the statistics highlight the challenges we face:

•  World Health Organisation attributes 1.7 million deaths per year due to inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption, making it one of the top 10 health risk factors face globally.²

• According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012 yearbook only 6% of Australians eat the recommended daily serves of both fruit and vegetables.³ 

So where do we start… by looking at past strategies and their evaluations. This helped me see what has worked in the past and what hasn’t. It helped identify local public perceptions and barriers to adoption of the 2 and 5 messages. I was also able to see where grants, donations and sponsorship have come from and what types of stories gained media coverage. After looking at the evaluations I didn’t feel so lost and was able to start setting goals and planning for ‘Fruit and Veg September’.

Just as they taught us at university, in strategic public relations the evaluation is not only the end of a cycle but the start of the next one.

 

1: http://www.crunchandsip.com.au/celebrate-crunchsip/fruit-veg-september/   

2:  http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/fruit/en/index2.html

3: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/1301.0Main+Features2362012

Are you looking for a career in Public Relations?

My placement has shown me two key attributes that I believe are essential to pursuing a successful career in public relations. 

I have been studying public relations for almost a decade. During this time I have held positions in fields such as sales and marketing, conservation, taxation, teaching, management and administration. During my degree I have been able to apply public relations theory to each position I have held. University has taught me knowledge of the field, and the theory behind it, but some things are not learnt in the classroom.

I organised my internship with an organisation that places high value on student placements and mentoring. For confidentiality reasons I can't identify the organisation but I can tell you a bit about what I'm learning. My placement team has shown me that I've got the skills and education to pursue a career in a public relations role. They are also teaching me a bit more...... that a career in public relations requires passion and perseverance.

Passion: The first three days in my internship placement have been really rewarding. I have enjoyed using the theory from university along with the skills developed in the workforce. More importantly it has given me the confidence that a career in public relations is the right thing for me. With every job there is some give and take.

I am going home exhausted at the end of each day.

I am required to work some unusual hours.

I have to do things outside of my comfort zone.

Despite all this there is no doubt in my mind that it is all worth it. I look forward to my placement days and the challenges and experiences it brings.

Perseverance: I’ve been thrown in the deep end at work as we received unexpected grant funding allowing us to run an event at less than two weeks’ notice. My role has included producing promotional material, seeking event sponsors and writing a media release.

One of my duties was to produce a promotional poster for the event. I drafted a poster but it was not accepted as it did not comply with the organisations style guide.  My team was keen to use my poster as it was more relevant to our target audience than the sample head office had sent us. I redesigned the poster over a dozen times before finding a suitable middle ground that would be approved.

Normally this is something that would frustrate and disappoint me; however I had been talking to a co-worker in my team. Once graduating she had applied for over 160 jobs and taken over two years to get a position in her field. She was a member of professional bodies and sought assistance from the careers team at her university. Her perseverance to gain a career in her field inspired me. It allowed me to see the drawn out process of getting a poster approved as a lesson in perseverance, staying focused and remaining positive.

The Lesson: Sometimes finding a job might be hard work. It might involve unpaid internships, volunteering, multiple job applications and rejections. The challenges you come across during your internship are similar to the challenges you will face when looking for work or in your chosen career. Finding something you are passion about is a good grounding for perseverance and can help you get through whatever challenges your workplace throws at you.

I would love to hear how your internships are going. What key attributes do you see as essential to getting the most out of your placements and pursuing a career in public relations?