A Lesson In Confidence

Hello There,

My name is Latifah and for the last three months I have been interning for the Government Communications unit at the Ministry of Energy and Minerals of the United Republic of Tanzania. When it came to deciding where I wanted to pursue my internship there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to do it in my home country as that is where I see myself working in the long run and so I wanted to see first hand how the Public Relations industry worked there.

For those that are curious, Tanzania is in the eastern part of Africa, bordered by Kenya and Uganda.

I am sure interning in an African country and for the government may be a little different from the experiences of my counterparts, regardless I hope that I can provide some useful insights from my experience.

To be honest, I was very nervous on my first day of interning. I kept wondering whether I would be able to meet the high standards of work as it was an established office with years of experience. Although my boss and my co-workers were incredibly accommodative, I learnt early on that it was a busy office and on that day itself I was assigned to cover the '5th Annual Canada - Tanzania Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility', on behalf of the organisation.

Upon my arrival, I was completely caught off guard. For the longest time, I had the idea that Public Relations was more of a 'behind the scenes' profession, all about research and writing, where you lay the ground work and let the spokespeople do the talking. Turns out I was very wrong. I realized that as a Public Relations person you have to be able to get up and fearlessly take perfect pictures even in crowds of hundreds; you have be able to ask the right questions to the right people so as to gain sufficient information for your media release; you have to able to confidently introduce yourself and liaise with the media, all so that at the end of the day your organisation's work can be communicated to the public.

This realization made me go about my work much more confidently, and although my pictures could have been a little better that day, I really saw first hand the importance of Public Relations personnel.

You can see some of the pictures I took for the event on page 8 of the Ministry's Weekly News Bulletin below:
https://mem.go.tz/mem-news-bulletin-105th-edition/

Until next time.

Latifah Mzee Hamis Salim Boma
17223946/ 7E3A1749
Curtin University, Sarawak Campus

6 Tips for Getting the Most out of Your Internship

During my two internships there are things I did that worked to my advantage and things I wish I had done differently. Below are my tips to ensuring you get the most out of your internship.

1.   Triple check your work

No matter how small or insignificant the task may seem, always take the time to ensure you have completed the task correctly. Check your grammar is correct and that you have finalized the task to the standard requested.

When you are doing the same task over and over it is easy to slip up and make a typo. It might not seem like a big deal. However if you pass this work to your boss who picks up the mistake (or worse, the client) you are unlikely to be trusted with jobs with bigger tasks.

At the end of the day the work you output is a reflection of you and your professional standards.

2.   Complete the small tasks with a good attitude

I am not going to lie, there were times during my internships where I was completing a task thinking ‘three years of my life and $30,000 on a degree has lead to me spending half a day scanning documents’. It is frustrating, but at the end of the day you are an intern. You are going to be given the tasks that no one else wants to do.

My advice is to try and learn as much as you can from that task. Even if it is just scanning, get to know the documents you’re scanning, learn from them. Do these tasks fast and to a high standard. Only then will you be trusted to take on jobs that require more responsibility. No one is going to let the intern who can’t even scan a document strait write a media release.

3.   The answer is yes

You might just be lucky enough to be given a task that is challenging or even scary, that think you are incapable of completing. Never decline such an offer. You have been allocated the task because your supervisor believes in you. You should too. 

Don’t think about the worst that could happen. It is more than likely that you will do a fantastic job and impress everyone, including yourself.

4.   Dress for the job you want not the job you have

You might be surprised at the opportunities that can present them self if you are dressed like a corporate professional. If you have read my previous blogs you will know I attended a press conference during my internship. My job was media registration. With the knowledge that I would be meeting the client I dressed as professionally as my wardrobe would allow me. 

I ended up being asked to MC the press conference. I spoke to 30 media from Malaysia’s most successful media outlets. I have no doubt that I would not have been asked to MC if I was not dressed corporate.

See my blog post ‘From intern to press conference MC’ for more information on this story.

5.   It’s not what you know, it’s who you know

Networking has been absolutely hammered into us throughout university. Yet still I just cannot stress how important simply knowing the right person can be. Meeting one individual can change the way your career progresses.

When I start a new job, particularly an internship, I do my best to talk to everyone. Better yet, make a good impression on them. Chat to the person in front of you in the down stairs café, strike up a conversation with the lady heating up her lunch in the kitchen, pick up the pen the guy dropped because his hands were full of files. You just never know where that conversation might lead you.

6.   Talk to your supervisor about what you want to experience

A simple conversation might be the difference between you getting little out of your internship and getting the rewarding experience you want. Tell your supervisor what you want to be exposed to during the internship. Whether it is writing a media release, a story for the intranet, organising an event or interviewing people. At the end of the day if you don’t tell them they won’t know. 

Communication with your supervisor is just an important as any other form of communication, and I know you are great at communication, after all you are about to get a degree in it.

My internships at GO Communications and the Public Transport Authority have taught me a lot about Public Relations in the real word. I even learnt a thing or two about myself. 

Good luck to you all.

Whitney

Challenge: 4 Weeks Without a Supervisor

When I first started my internship it was noted that there would be a period of about 4 weeks when I would be left by myself in the marketing and PR department, “no worries” I said at the time “I’ll hold the fort”. Then suddenly it was the beginning of April, and I was left alone.

In the week leading up to my manager’s trip to Europe and the marketing assistants trip to America I tried to get as much information from them as I could and we compiled a long list of action items that I could work through whilst they were away. At first I was nervous at being left alone, but after my first day ‘holding the fort’ I realized that after almost 15 days over 2 months working at the company, I had learnt a lot more than I realized and gained a confidence in myself and my abilities that was not there before.

Whilst my supervisors were away I worked through the action items and tried my best not to email for help instead taking the initiative and working through things myself or with help from others in the office. The month went smoothly and I came out the other end with an almost complete list and even a few additions.

When meeting with my manager and colleague the week they both returned, I was proud to show them a list of completed items, some new ideas, a printed advertisement and the media release that would be printed the following month for which I had interviewed one of our clients, a major Oil and Gas company in WA.

Overall, as daunting as it was to find myself so abruptly left alone, it was a necessary learning curve that saw me work independently to a deadline and enabled me to gain confidence in myself avoiding reliance on others. It also saw me begin to create my own presence within the company as I met more and more people and took on more responsibility. 

Software use FAIL!

Hey everyone, I'm back again. For those who haven't read my previous blog - I'm completing my internship at the Shire of Kalamunda in the PR dept and so far its been one great learning experience.

Within my first week of my internship, my manager straight away threw me into the deep end and Bang! Bang! Bang! All these emails were coming in and flooding my mailbox. “Hi Kiran, could you please write a media release on the following… Thanks, Nic.”

Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful that I was getting a list of jobs to complete which was putting all my skills and knowledge from uni into use and initially it was just a little overwhelming but I quickly picked up my pace.

During my first 2 weeks at the Shire, my main focus was on the creation of a media release, brochures, flyers and application packs for the Youth Arts Fest Exhibition (YAFE). The event is catered to the youth of Kalamunda to have their art works exhibited, be it paintings, photographs, sculptures or fashion designs. The exhibition will be open to the public and judged by a panel with up to $1,000 of cash prizes to be won.

The program used to create the artwork and design for the brochures and flyers is called “InDesign”. My manager Nic asked me if I have ever used the program before, as it’s the program they used to create all their designs, but unfortunately I hadn’t. Nic asked me what programs we used in class but was a bit disappointed that we hadn’t been shown how to use this specific program in uni as a large number of PR practitioners and marketing companies use it A LOT.

Anyway, my next half hour was spent trying to familiarise myself with the program and use my creativity skills to design a flyer on my own – however I didn’t have much luck. The great thing about working within a small team, especially with Nicole, is that although I may not have ever used the InDesign program before, she let me try and figure it out on my own first and then she took the time to show me how to use it and together we worked on the draft design. The program is so in-depth and creative I was amazed since the most I’ve ever used is Microsoft publisher.

I think that its important for us as students to learn some of the basics when it comes to software programs that PR companies regularly use – it would’ve come in handy as I may have had the opportunity to design more marketing/pr material during my internship. Plus, that would mean that we wouldn’t have to use valuable time in learning the software (when we’re out in the real world) and can instead jump straight into work and learn the new details.

However nonetheless, my first few weeks of interning were great. I got more comfortable with writing media releases and instead of spending maybe just over an hour on each release, I started picking up the pace and gaining confidence in my writing, which ultimately shortened my turn around time per release - which was awesome and exactly what my manager was looking for.

After writing countless media releases for the Shire on their upcoming events there was one question that was on my mind… Taking into account the size of the shire and the events that it hosts (which is really quite a lot) - what does my local shire do for us? I never hear of any events, mens workshops, kids story time readings, kids holiday activities, music programs… nothing. I guess its time to start researching and find out what’s been happening!

- K

The Perfect Blend

So it’s now my very last week at PPR and as I sit and write this, all I can think about is where has the time gone?! In theory, a month sounds like a long time but in the fast paced world of PR, I’ve rapidly come to learn that it isn’t.

In my third week at PPR, I spent a lot of time on the road, delivering invitations for an event on behalf of a client. At the time I treated this as a bit of respite from all the work that I still have left to do but with only 2 days remaining to get it all done – I’m now working to a very tight deadline.

 At the end of the week I was also given the task of helping one of the account managers put together a credentials document for the firm. I was given this task based on my ability to write and to perform under a tight deadline, which was definitely the confidence boost I had been searching for. As you might recall from my previous blog entry, my second week at PPR was a tough one in terms of my confidence and belief in my ability to write but undertaking this task has given me a chance to resurrect myself. I got to work on the task immediately by compiling some relevant case studies, which will all be included in the publication and wrote a succinct synopsis of each one. Part of this task will also involve me proofreading the account manager’s work to ensure that there are no spelling mistakes or other grammatical errors. Though I have never edited anyone’s work in a professional capacity, I have nonetheless chosen to embrace this task as yet another opportunity for me to learn and acquire those much-needed editing skills, pertinent to a successful career in PR.

Another aspect that I really love about this task is that to me, it is the perfect blend of both sides of my degree, as not only am I writing for a professional publication, but I am also helping this PR firm carry out its own PR. This fusion of public relations and professional writing has definitely demonstrated how well the two degrees go together and how skills from each are sometimes necessary for performing tasks in this industry.

I am looking forward to this final week and I can’t wait to reflect on what has definitely been an exciting, frightening, educational and enlightening month at PPR.

alas, the end.

After completing my placement at Corporate Sports Australia i'm so glad i was given the opportunity to gain some practical experience in the real world of public relations - and to be able to this as part of my degree.

While hours spent stuffing envelopes and sifting through survey results wasn't exactly my idea of fun, you've got to start somewhere!

During my internship i was given some great opportunities to put my skills and knowledge of the Public Relations industry into practice through media release writing, producing business reports, media guides and stage managing on event day. I was able to build on this knowledge through attending a press conference, communicating with key stakeholders and working alongside industry professionals.

I've gained invaluable PR experience from interning at CSA, as well as some great insights into the world of Marketing and Event Management. Receiving great feedback from my supervisors has given me a great confidence boost and reinforced just how relevant everything i've learnt at Curtin really is.

And i think, just maybe, i am ready to enter the challenging and fast paced world of Public Relations. Look out.

Website design and content

Written: 27.9.12

Today I was asked to review the website the Commission is producing to be used by the public during the election period. The main website www.waec.wa.ov.au will still be available but all searches will be redirected to the election specific website which will feature as a” one-stop-shop” (the managers words) for everything involving the election.
I was asked to review headings, check links and link paths and review the preliminary content that has been uploaded.

I found this exercise thoroughly enjoyable and was the most fun I’ve had at my internship so far. It was great to be able to use what I’d learnt in classes in the real world, by putting it into to practice and not just talking about it in theory. The best part was that I was surprised by how much I had learnt. I was originally quite nervous when asked to review it because websites aren’t covered extensively in the PR course, but I realised as I was reviewing that I learnt a lot more about websites than I thought I had.
Overall today was a very enjoyable and educational experience and I left my placement with more confidence than when I walked in this morning.

Sam
14756614

Final Race Time of 26 Days

Well the day has arrived! All that planning will be paid off this morning, Sunday August 26! Been up at 4am may not seem the most ideal situation but it did not phase me at all. I could not wait to be at City Beach Oval! 

Watching people pass the finish line and listening to interviews conducted by the media to the winners felt like a huge achievement thinking ‘hey I helped put this all together.’ It was amazing to see all that planning come together on one day and it was also extremely rewarding, making all those hours worthwhile.

I have learnt so much and I cannot wait to get a job and show off what I have learnt and further extend my knowledge in the public relations industry.

A few valuable lessons I will take away from my internship are:

Planning

Without planning, you are just going to create a recipe for disaster. every little detail for the event was planned and had a team behind it that had worked on it and designed it to work in a certain way. Although during my internship some tasks I did, did not seem as important as others it was all a part of the ‘bigger picture’ Planning for anything and everything that will and could happen on the event day all works to ensure a smooth event to be enjoyed by the participants and the organisers. 

Time Management

The ability to meet deadlines and have a high level of organisation is all part of maintaining strong relationships with both stakeholders and colleagues. As the event was on August 26, there were a series of tasks that needed to be done months, weeks and days in advance and without the completion of those tasks the event would not have gone ahead and would have been terrible. 

Time management and organisation reflects highly on the industry you are in and a part of. 

Verbal Communication

The PR industry relies heavily on both written and verbal communication. Whether you are communicating with your colleagues, stakeholder groups, publics and other industries, communicating confidently, fluently and well is very important. PR is all about messages, 

As an intern it is pivotal that you have a excellent verbal communication to ensure you all a part of the planning and the organisation and your voice is getting heard.

Teamwork

PR heavily relies on working in teams. Who knew all those group assignments with good and not so good group members would be a reflection of the type of team work you would be doing in the industry. Especially working for such a huge event, it would be impossible for only one person to do this event all by themselves and have the same results as if a team were to organise it. 

CONFIDENCE

One priceless lesson I will be taking away from this unit is ‘confidence’. Over the 26 days of interning, I have grown confident in my ability to step into the ‘real world’ as they call it and apply for jobs knowing I can do it, and I’ll be able to do it well. 

I cannot begin to describe how much I enjoyed my time at Corporate Sports Australia and help organising the City to Surf and to be a part of such a great community event. I was given some great tasks and felt like I was providing a service to the event. All the little tasks that may seem not so important such as answering emails and phone calls was a huge learning curve as you were interacting with primary stakeholders and aware publics - the way you responded to their queries reflected on the practice of event management and the organisation itself.

I’m also glad to know that I will also be helping out with their next event, the inaugural Suncorp Bank Fremantle Fun Run that will be on November 11. 

I hope you all enjoyed your internship as much as I did and good luck with the final weeks of semester!

Thanks,

Steph Sbrocco

Completely involved

This week was a busy one… We had the Sharing Healthy Conversations event, which was organised by 32 Degrees South. The interns (me and two other girls) were asked to scribe as people shared their thoughts on how communication could improve between people with a disability, carers, family and health care professionals. The results were going to be given to the Minister for Disability Services and the Carers Advisory Council so it was crucial that we got down everything important that was said.

The scribes were given an information sheet as well as sheet with all the questions that were to be asked. Each of us was placed with a facilitator on a table and was asked just to write down everyone’s significant points to each question. Of course with any discussion, the conversation veered off track and attendees ended up answering questions that were only going to be asked later on. One thing I definitely learnt from this event is that you cannot expect everything to go exactly to plan. We ended up writing answers to one section instead of one question. What mattered however was that all the information was written down and could be collated effectively. I realised that as an event coordinator, so many things could go wrong or go unplanned however there is usually a solution. I like to think about it as a dancing concert where if you make a mistake you just need to carry on because chances are the audience didn’t realise the mistake happened in the first place. No one at the event realised that they were answering the questions out of order.

I knew that I would be asked to write a news article about the event for the 32dsg website and therefore at the same time as I was scribing I was also writing down quotes from the key speakers so that I would know exactly what to put in the article. The event was organised so professionally. The coordination between teatime, lunchtime and question time was perfect and the speakers were inspiring. I hope to one day be confident enough to run an event as smoothly.

We all arrived back at the office quite late in the day and it was quite hard to get back into work mode after spending most of the day at an event. However, I got started on the article for the Sharing Healthy Conversations event we had just taken part in and found it much easier to write since I had been a part of it and seen first hand how it was coordinated and what was said. I also got to see an event schedule, budget and fact sheet and will be keeping them as good examples for the future. The article has to be approved by the director of 32dsg (my supervisory) and the quotes need to be approved by all the speakers. However, the approval of quotes will not be hard since I was there writing them down at the event.

The social media coordinator has been trying to get people to ‘like’ the 32 degrees south Facebook page. Together we have been trying to update daily events on Facebook that are happening around Perth so that people can see the companies name in constant presence on their home pages. However it is hard to get people to fully acknowledge they have seen the posts by ‘liking’ them. I therefore decided to send a message to most of my 487 ‘friends’ on Facebook asking them to kindly like the 32dsg page. Suddenly we went from 24 likes to 67 and it is still increasing daily. Sometimes the best thing to do is to just ask, and from there you can build your presence less pleadingly.

This week I was also asked to write a blog about the winner of last years WApp Awards (now called oZAPPS-32dsg client), who has just launched their Big Help Mob app on iTunes to help mobilize volunteers around Perth. The blog is being approved for the 32dsg website and some of the content I wrote is being used in the oZAPPS media release.

Another thing I did this week was to write up a news piece for the Ngala’s participation in the Perth Baby Expo. Since Ngala is one of 32dsgs clients this news piece will be given to Ngala and put on their website just like the Ngala Gala dinner piece I wrote a week ago. I also wrote a blog on the same event for our website.

After only a few weeks of working here I am getting a lot faster at content creation. I was able to write a news piece in a professional journalism style and a blog in a relaxed style quickly and confidently. I cant believe how many opportunities I have had to create content for their website. I have been documenting everything I have been doing and looking through my portfolio yesterday I feel so lucky to have gotten such a great opportunity.

When there are no blog posts to be written up or news articles I have always got the big task of trying to draw up a PR plan for 32dsg. I am constantly updating an events calendar so they have events to blog, Facebook and tweet about in the future as well as looking at companies similar to 32dsg and events content for their website.

Wow what a week… I love being busy, having lots to do. I am so lucky that there is no such thing as wasting time at 32dsg.

Next weeks week 5 out of 7 and it has just flown by way too quickly!

I’ll be blogging here next week!  

Xxx

Martine