Hey everyone,
Last post I mentioned I’m doing my
internship at Platform Communications, but I didn’t explain how my first few
weeks were going or the task’s I have been delegated. For a quick refresher,
Platform Communications is a consultancy that focuses on internal
communications, brand management and investor relations, and their client base
involves businesses predominantly from the mining, engineering and construction
industries. I have recently finished my 14th day there, but I am
only going to tell you about the first 10. Time seems to be going so fast.
On the first day I didn’t have to start
till 9. When I arrived I was greeted by most of the staff, and shown my desk;
complete with my own business cards (see below). The team
then went into the boardroom and had their weekly meeting, called a WIP (Work
In Progress). Everyone was handed an A3 sheet full of the work everyone at
Platform was doing. The team then went down the list and the project managers
would give a quick outline about what was involved in each job and where it was
up to currently, and when certain tasks would need to be completed. I sat there
amazed at how much work they had to do. While everyone was in the boardroom I
got to introduce myself to everyone, and then everyone went around the table
introducing themselves to me.
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| I hid my email and mobile, normally it does have information there. |
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After that came the induction. At the
induction I was given an induction manual that outlines all the processes at
Platform. This included everything, from how to use the server to answering the
phones correctly. I was then told who my manager would be. My manager was also
relatively new; she had only been working at Platform for 3 weeks. My manager
and the boss had just come back from a conference in Asia so my first task was
to compile a list of potential clients from the hundreds of business cards she
received; adding in the company’s name, phone number etc. This task took much
longer then I thought it would. In my mind I thought I would be able to do 50
cards an hour, meaning just over a minute for every card. In reality I was only
averaging 30 cards an hour, so one business card every two minutes. This meant
that completing this task kept me busy for the rest of the day. My first lesson
taught me a very important lesson.
Everything
take’s time
In a consultancy environment it is very
important to forecast the correct amount of time needed to complete a project.
I learnt that it will always take longer then you initially suspect so it is
important to add buffering time. Here is an article that thoroughly explains making decisions and time management.
The next two days in the office I spent
helping another senior consultant, who wasn’t my manager do a social media
audit. One of Platforms clients isn’t currently using social media, but was
considering using it as a marketing tool in the future. They wanted a full
audit on all social media types so they could make an informed decision, and
would be able to have an integrated approach. We completed this job by the end
of my third day. Here is a video about the continued importance of social media in business.
On my fourth and fifth job I was given a
really interesting and fun research task. One client wanted to make a video to
show its new employees. I needed to do the research to help aid the script. I
also got to put my recommendations of what should be shown on screen. For this
research I had a specific person I had to call and interview. I wrote down my
questions and a script of what to say while on the phone. I then worked up the
courage to call the interviewee only to get his voice-mail, I left a message
with my mobile and waited for his call, when he did call back all he said was
that he was on holiday and did not want to do the interview till he came back.
The job needed to be finished by the next day, so the boss told me to ask
anyone I knew about the subject. Luckily I had a few friends who worked for that
company and were happy to be interviewed by me. On the 4th,5th,
6th and 7th day I also worked on another research project looking up
sponsorships, partnerships and grants. I worked on the project with 3 other
juniors/interns. The list ended up being over 60 pages long, and had hundred of
options. On the 7th day it was my job to format and edit this
information. Platform has a zero errors clause, hence correct spelling and
grammar is paramount. The main lesson I learnt from these days was,
That
research is critical for making the most advantageous business moves
On my 8th day all the
juniors/interns had a meeting where we discussed the work we were doing, and
our experiences so far. This was really insightful, and I gained a lot of
perspective from the meeting. We all
then worked on a masterlist. From the meeting I learned
That if
you keep working hard you will get given more responsibilities
On the 9th day I did research
for some backgrounders. Most of the information I researched was written
similarly to how I had formatted my research. When I completed this task I went
back to the masterlist. The masterlist will be an ongoing task throughout my
internship and will take a lot of time to complete. On the 10th day
I got given an urgent task from the boss. One of our clients complained about
Platform using their logo under their clients list. This company was a current
client who we are working with currently and have been working with for a long
time. My job was to find 100 other companies who also used the client’s logo
and copy the links into a word document so the client could see that we were
justified in using their logo.
So that’s been the first 10 days of my
internship. I’ve learnt a lot, made plenty of lists, and have adjusted to
working life and hours, (well almost, this blog is a bit overdue). I am
enjoying my time, and am excited to write my next blog about all the new responsibilities
I have received. My internship will be
over very soon so I plan on making the most of the rest of the opportunities
given to me.
