Good news, everybody!

This is my last blog post for PR393, so I thought pretty hard about what I wanted to say. I was going to end with a few pearls of wisdom; some do's and dont's of the consultancy world from my experience; my top tips for getting through a month of real work when you're used to sleeping all day and scraping by with credits.

I'd even written a draft.

That all changed at 9am yesterday, so instead of wise words, I'm going to leave you with a story. It begins at the PPR office in Subiaco at 6pm two Fridays ago.

Friday July 29, 6pm:

I was on my way out of the office after my last Friday drinks, having said goodbye to the people who had been my colleagues for the last month. I decided to stop in a Peter Harris' office, even though I'd only properly met him a few hours beforehand (he'd been on holiday for three weeks then playing catch-up when he got back).

I caught him just as he was shutting down for the night so we chatted as we walked to the reception area. He thanked me for my month's work and I thanked him for the opportunity, all of which seemed pretty standard.

Then he mentioned one of the Senior Consultants had made special effort to go to his office and tell him how impressed she was by my work, which in itself is an amazing accolade. When he told me he was willing to work out a one-day-a-week work experience deal with me "if I wanted it," I jumped at the chance. We agreed that he would work out if there was work and a desk for me and I would call him in a week or so.

Monday August 8, 9am:

At 9am on the dot, my phone rang and woke me up. It was a blocked number, meaning it was either PPR or a telemarketer. I took my chances, put on my faux-awake voice and answered.

On the other end was a very busy sounding Peter Harris. Then again, he always sounds very busy. He told me "things have changed" since I left, so I expected him to tell me the opportunity was no longer there; I was fine with that, like I said the acknowledgement in itself was enough.

He then offered me the ideal opportunity. He said there was a position available three days a week, paid, until the end of Perth Fashion Festival.

He wanted me to take on a Junior Consultant role for the PFF on a part-time basis.

Naturally I accepted the offer without the slightest hesitation, and am now officially an employee (well, short-term contractor) for Professional Public Relations. This, combined with booking my first proper holiday in a couple of years made yesterday probably the best Monday I could have had.

The Lesson:

I guess the lesson in this is to just do what you do. I worked hard, like I do at Uni. I socialised, like I do at Uni. By being there, doing what was asked at the highest standard I could and constantly reminding everyone how keen I was for more work, I suppose I made a good impression.

Part of it was luck; in the work I was doing, the timing of PFF and the fact that I have two days of classes a week. Part of it was working hard and proving I'm capable, something they obviously saw.

Either way I'm incredibly grateful for this chance, but now I have to end because I start tomorrow morning with a product drop to Dianella before 8.45am.

I wish everyone the same good fortune I had, and remember to work hard!

I'll probably see you all this semester, and if not best of luck for the tail end of your degrees. If you want to chat more, find me on LinkedIn, follow @momo_mjr on Twitter, or find me on Facebook.

- Morgan Riley

The last day

I have sadly reached the end of my four weeks in the Professional Public Relations office, but not without learning a huge amount. Continuing on from my previous post, I'll be discussing one of the fundamental lessons I've learned recently in this blog.

Before I do that, I just want to take another chance to recommend a PPR placement to anyone thinking of doing work experience, but remember it is a month full time, so be prepared to work hard for four weeks.

I've been challenged, I've had a lot of laughs, and I've learned a lot. The last month has absolutely flown by and while it's a scary thought to be finishing up my time at Curtin in three months, I feel like after my PPR internship I'm a lot more ready (though not totally ready) to take on the big bad world.

Moving on!

In my last post I talked about attention to detail, and in this post I'll be reinforcing that age-old lesson of time management.

As a Uni student, and a male, my time management skills are inherently terrible (sorry lads, but we all know it's true). I really had to hit the ground running every day for a month and good time management is not something you can teach, it's something you have to develop. Lucky for me I'm also an adaptable creature and I was able to juggle everything just right to not only get all my work done to a high standard but, arguably almost as important, make contact with the powers that be in the office so they remember me (more on this later)

Time management is, like attention to detailed, drilled in to us students from day one - probably even day one of high school. It's essential to be able to manage your time in a consultancy if you have any hope of surviving, especially as an intern trying to complete more work than you should to please and impress everybody.

To illustrate the importance of time management, here is a picture of you as an intern without good time management:

And here is calm, collected you after managing your time well:

From personal experience I can offer you a couple of tips on how not to get overloaded and stressed:

1. Don't take on more than you can handle - If you don't have capacity, say so. No one will be offended or upset if you explain that you won't be able to get the work they want done in time, so don't be afraid to say "no."
2. Be sure of your deadlines so you know how long you have to complete something - if you've got four things due in an hour but capacity after that, ask if it can wait. Usually, it can.
3. Take regular breaks so you don't start making careless mistakes and having to re-do things. Not long breaks every 15 minutes, but stretch, go and get a drink of water, wander around the office looking busy with papers - everyone does it to stay sharp.
4. Practice as much as you can. I know you're probably wondering how you practice something like time management, but there are ways:

• Plan your future projects/tasks and set goals in a realistic time, then achieve those goals.
• List all the things you have to do tomorrow then do them today, before lunchtime. That's the pace PR consultants work at, but they're never (unduly) stressed.
• Write down work as you get it, and when the deadlines are. That way you have a physical list of everything you need to do and you won't forget to do anything.

This post is starting to get a bit lengthy and I have some things to tie off before my last Friday drinks at the office. I will be posting one more blog next week once I've got myself together with Uni etc, but as a teaser I've had a very positive conversation with some important people here, to be followed up next week.

Thanks to everyone at PPR for having me for the last month, it really has been a great experience.

Good luck to Sandrine who will take the reins for August, it's going to be a very busy month with PFF and c2030 events creeping ever closer. Don't stress, you'll do fine!

Check back next Thursday/Friday for (hopefully) some very good news.

- Morgan Riley

Three quarters of the way...

At the end of my third week here at Professional Public Relations, I've learned several important pieces of wisdom that I will be passing on (or at least, trying to) in the next three blogs.

The first and probably most important in any intern position, and indeed in any paid position, is attention to detail.

Why attention to detail is important:

I was asked to draft a media release as a writing exercise one slow afternoon in the office, and although I proofread it for spelling. grammar and punctuation I missed an entire sentence that I hadn't wanted to include. When it was brought to my attention I told the supervisor it was an accidental oversight, a comment met with a stern but fair "that's not good enough."

Initially I was a little taken aback by the abrasive comment but I realised very quickly that it was more than fair. If someone took a piece of work to a client and made excuses to do with not being thorough, how would that reflect on the standard of work? It was pointed out that agencies have been fired for less, which in a cut-throat business world makes a lot of sense.

Attention to detail is a vital skill to have and, admittedly, one that I'm still learning. I've been listening to my tutors say how important it is for almost three years but until it's made that obvious in the real world the message doesn't entirely sink in.

It doesn't just apply to writing work though - even checking media lists, or putting together a mail out, the importance of double-checking everything can't be overstated.

What you should be doing now:

• Always get someone else to proofread your work - it's surprising and scary how often small errors in grammar, spelling, syntax and general flow can be overlooked. If nothing else, an objective opinion is always helpful;


• Spellcheck everything. That sounds like something a year 6 teacher would say, but even now I'm noticing things I, and other people, have spelt wrong and not noticed. Spelling errors look incredibly unprofessional;


• Re-read, re-read, re-read;


• If you have time, have a couple of versions of your work. This comes down to idea flow and structure - sometimes arranging or phrasing things differently can change the meaning entirely, and having two versions means you can have the best of both worlds;


• Concentrate while you're working, and;


• If you're not sure of a word, look it up or, ideally, use a simpler word with the same meaning.

I hope that doesn't put anyone off - consider it advice, don't get freaked out by it.

This week has been so busy with writing work, media lists needed ASAP and generally a lot of work that needed to be done yesterday. It's a great experience to be working so furiously, knowing your work may be used in a real life scenario. Needless to say, though, I'm looking forward to the weekend!

Wishing you all a good weekend after the first week of Semester 2,

- Morgan Riley