I have now finished my placement at Inhouse Group, a business development/design/marketing company located in Mandurah. I can now safely say that this work experience opportunity has been the most helpful thing with regard to improving my skills in the hope of getting my degree.
On my final day, my supervisor asked me to put all my documents (press releases, articles, marketing documents etc) on a USB for him in case they ever need to use them again. While looking through my documents to give to him, i came across the first press release i wrote for them, on my first day. It was then i realised how much i really have improved in my writing since then, and how quickly this improvement can happen when placed in a real life environment.
I talked to the managing director of the company after this and he even said he saw how much i improved, and i understood much better the best way to write for external publications. I really feel that this opportunity has been invaluable in developing my writing skills, and as i discussed with the boss, seeing my work published in the paper or online is more rewarding than any good mark - I'm sure many of you will agree it's a great feeling to see your work in a public domain for real life purposes instead of on a sheet of paper in your workbook!
Though there were days during my internship where i was really bored and really badly wanted to go home, im sure that happens in any job and upon leaving i almost felt sad! Even though i was only there two days a week i did get used to it and it's kind of weird having left now!
My supervisor Jesse as well as the managing director Clinton both said i was welcome back there any time and Jesse even suggested i come back even for one day a week and work on some marketing projects with the graphic designers - in my last few days i explored the process of making print advertisements, which included lengthy brainstorming sessions with the graphic designers and working out what kind of writing and pictures would be best to target the appropriate market. Our creations will be for Harvey Norman Commercial in the Sunday Times TV Guide in the coming months so I will be keeping an eye out! Anyway Jesse said i was welcome to come back weekly and work on similar projects which i really enjoyed so depending on how i go getting a job etc i may well take him up on that! Since Inhouse group are a small company and have only been around a couple of years they do not yet have the capacity to hire a specific PR/Marketing person but i would value the further experience all the same!
Another thing I explored and learned more about during my placement was the difference between PR and marketing. The topic has been discussed in recent blogs below and it just goes to show how working in a real environment can be really helpful in discovering the similarities and differences between the two concepts, and learning which area i enjoy more - surprisingly at uni i have always enjoyed marketing more but since my placement I have really warmed to PR!
Now to focus on uni for the final 2 weeks of classes EVER! (provided i pass all my units...) but luckily i began my final report at the start of my placement 10 weeks ago and have now pretty much finished it so I am really glad i dont have that to worry about!
Anyway as I wrap up my final blog entry for PR 393 I just want to share how you can really see how much you've improved in all relevant skills by the end of your placement, and it may not be until then that you do but it is a very rewarding experience. Hope you're all still enjoying yours :)
Eva Buckley - Bentley
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