Today my internship officially ended (queue loud chorus of
cheers) and for my final blog I’d like to share some tips on one of the most
important lessons I learnt over the past three months.
Here goes!
'BE ORGANISED. BE, BE
ORGANISED'
Moment of truth, I’m terribly unorganised. Give me a filing
cabinet and I’ll destroy it in about five minutes. Give me an assignment and I
can guarantee I’ll be doing the final edit just minutes before it’s due. In
saying all that, I learnt very, very quickly that organisation is absolutely
imperative in a PR department. At first it was daunting, but by the end of the
internship the word deadline didn’t
terrify me quite so much – in fact I even completed some tasks early! I can definitely
say I came a long way in developing time management and organisational skills
under the guidance of my Activ supervisor, and I know those are skills that are crucial in
future employment.
So, what organisational tips do I have for future students
doing their PR internship?
1. Have a diary - and use it! Keeping a consistent track
of meetings, deadlines, and projects means that you will never be caught by
surprise and stuck doing something last minute. Trust me, one week of using a
diary and you’ll be ready to buy it a BFF necklace.
2.
Don’t sleep
in – ever! It may seem tempting to press snooze for that extra ten minutes (or
hour) but rushing around because you’re running late is just a recipe for
disaster. Beginning your day stressed
has this terrible knock on effect to the rest of the day where it sets you up
for failure before you’ve even left the house.
3.
As soon as you complete a project, file it
properly. At the end of the semester you’re going to have to compile a
portfolio of all the fantastic, wonderful work you’ve done and it would totally
suck if you forgot about something or – even worse – couldn’t find it.
4.
Pack everything you need for your internship the
night before. I know, I know; I sound like your Mum. But trust me, going back
to your Primary School days and packing your ‘backpack’ the night before will
save you the embarrassment of forgetting an important document or project (or,
worse still, your lunch).
5.
Make a list at the beginning of your workday about
everything you need to achieve and tick them off one-by-one. Seriously, nothing
is more satisfying than finishing up and looking at a list of crossed-off
tasks. Plus, it means you haven’t missed doing something important. Double
score!
Well, that's everything from me. I had a blast during my internship and I hope everyone else did too! To anyone reading this, best of luck for the future. We're all in this exciting adventure together.
