"Adieu, Adieu, to you and you and you..."

Hello once again (and for the final time),

I'm happy to report that while my internship with Marcia Ball for the purpose of this unit is done and dusted, I'll be continuing it indefinitely -- it seems that there is lots to be done now that we are working on revamping Style Voyeur, and now that the Jaime Lee label is growing rapidly thanks to press we received (and are still receiving) for her show at the Perth Fashion Festival.

There were many exciting times during this internship and there are many exciting times ahead. I've learnt a lot about the way the industry functions and how public relations can work (or not work) in an atypical working environment like the one I was in, which was extremely relaxed compared to some of the government departments some of you were at. Even so, I learnt and great deal, especially about myself and my capabilities.

1. Love what you do and it won't be a 'job'. The best kind of work isn't even work -- if you're doing something you're passionate about, it will translate into what you produce. So figure out what you love, and find out what industries will work for you, and then go for it. The rest will come naturally.
2. Sometimes things don't go to plan, and that's okay. Whether it's a big crisis that undermines an entire project or someone who just won't pick up the phone or email you back, you just have to take a deep breath and tackle it as best you can. Some things are just entirely out of your control.
3. The importance of a 'can do, will do' attitude in approaching tasks big and small. Do anything and everything! No task is too small or beneath you -- as an intern, you may have to do things like walk dogs (I'm looking at you, Simon), pick up dry cleaning or update boring databases, but your enthusiasm will show your employer that you're up for anything, and that in turn can and will lead to more responsibility. As for the big tasks, no matter how daunting it seems, it's always better to jump into it and ask the questions you might need to ask than to decline or be unsure. I've learnt that employers often want to know that you're at least willing to do the job, and are happy to help you along whenever they can.
4. A thank you goes a long way, and both ways! An honest "thank you" from your superiors can re-energise you with your tasks and make you feel appreciated for your hard work, but sometimes a "thank you" to your employer also shows them that you appreciate the opportunities they're giving you and the things you're learning from it. Gratitude is key in making the most out of your experiences.
5. No two organisations are the same, and they all operate in very different ways. I was worried before I began my internship that I would not get as much out of it as I would if I were working in a more corporate environment, and I was wrong. My internship environment utilised public relations functions in different ways, and in some cases not at all. That allowed me to assess the brand in ways they hadn't previously been able to assess themselves. At the end of the day I still got a lot out of it, and while I perhaps never wrote a media release or published a marketing strategy, I still learnt a great deal and used public relations in the way I knew how to bring another dimension to an existing brand.

Thanks for reading thus far; I hope you got as much out of your placements as I did. Good luck with anything and everything you decide to do after you graduate, whatever that may be. Judging from your blog posts, I have no doubt we're all capable of going out there and taking the public relations industry by storm. Who knows -- maybe I'll see some of you around!

Good luck for wherever your degree takes you,

Nicole

Goodbye

It is the end of my internship at United Way WA. It has been the best 20 days and i have learnt so much along the journey. Like most people i was dreading my internship, the nervous and the time dedicating to it seemed daunting but I am glad that i was forced to do it. I am so grateful for UWWA for allowing me to work there and it gave me such a good insight as to what i will experience in the real world.

Some lessons learnt:
- Always be prepared
- Sometimes it is not what you know but who you know! Start networking
- Proof read everything
- Time is essential

They may be pretty simple lessons but i have found out they are the most important elements to maintain and their importance is often overlooked.

I was able to be involved in quite a few public relations activities and these experiences will help me form my portfolio for future jobs

- Wrote media releases 
- Created media kits
- Designed flyers for event
- Designed logos for an event and campaign
- Created a newletter snapshot on the companies progress
- Created information for a state newsletter
- Attended and set up event

With being involved in all these PR activities i have learnt vital information and techniques that will become valuable and vital for future job prospects. University has provided me with background knowledge on how to tackle all of these activities but you don't notice the importance of them until you are creating them and putting them in place in an actual company. I cant wait to get into the real world.

Since United Way WA is a not for profit organisation they are unable to employ me because of lack on resources, but have offered for me to continue to intern for them for more experience if i like after my exams. I felt very welcome in their office and they made me feel like part of the family. I am forever grateful to them

Sorry, can you please repeat that in English?

Delving deeper into my role as a public relations Intern at 32dsg, life isn’t all smooth sailing. In a matter of hours my expectations of work experience had transformed in to a desperate desire to simply prepare coffee and tea for my superiors. But how did I get to this point…?

It was nearing the end of the working day when I was asked by the event director to complete a social media strategy for the Omnivore World Tour. I was familiar with the French culinary festival after previous work on a media release; however I had limited experience with social media. Despite this, with a good brief and a reasonable amount of time, I had the utmost confidence in my ability to produce a solid strategy.

The issue: The director has only recently located to Perth from France, where he was born and raised. With the directors basic grasp on the English language, the brief was found to be less helpful than originally anticipated. I was reassured when I was handed a two page social guideline, only it was in French… and I had three hours to research and complete the strategy ready for the 32dsg Project Manager.

In one afternoon, I was equipped with lessons that would guide the entirety of my professional career. So what were these lessons?

1.      Perseverance is key

I have discovered that within the workplace there will always be obstacles that enhance the challenge (in my case, communication), though it is in these situations that your true character is tested. Despite an overwhelming feeling of pressure, it was essential that I remain focused on the task at hand without giving into insecurities. Completion was imminent, and perseverance was a key element to success.

2.      Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines

Deadlines are a fundamental component of professional practice, proving to be both unforgiving and testing. Despite the onset of fatigue at the end of a long day, I had been given a task and its completion was immutable. In those few hours, I thought back to my university studies. In reality you are given hours, not weeks to produce work; minutes, not hours to respond to a crisis; and notes, not ‘project extension’ forms when given instructions. As a result, my ideal of deadlines has changed, resulting in an enhanced sense of urgency in all that I do.

3.      No more hand holding

In the real world there is no one to hold your hand. During those hours, I was forced to recall everything I had learnt during my PR studies, as well as personal and work experience. I could not ‘phone a friend’ or ‘pass’. I had been given a task, and it was my responsibility to complete it. Although confronting, surprisingly this lesson exhilarated me the most. I have always been an independent worker – I enjoy focusing on the task at hand and getting it done. This experience gave me the opportunity to test my work ethic, and thankfully, I excelled.

Moving forward, I look back on this experience fondly, and will instil these lessons not only throughout my professional career, but also in life.

 

Are you looking for a career in Public Relations?

My placement has shown me two key attributes that I believe are essential to pursuing a successful career in public relations. 

I have been studying public relations for almost a decade. During this time I have held positions in fields such as sales and marketing, conservation, taxation, teaching, management and administration. During my degree I have been able to apply public relations theory to each position I have held. University has taught me knowledge of the field, and the theory behind it, but some things are not learnt in the classroom.

I organised my internship with an organisation that places high value on student placements and mentoring. For confidentiality reasons I can't identify the organisation but I can tell you a bit about what I'm learning. My placement team has shown me that I've got the skills and education to pursue a career in a public relations role. They are also teaching me a bit more...... that a career in public relations requires passion and perseverance.

Passion: The first three days in my internship placement have been really rewarding. I have enjoyed using the theory from university along with the skills developed in the workforce. More importantly it has given me the confidence that a career in public relations is the right thing for me. With every job there is some give and take.

I am going home exhausted at the end of each day.

I am required to work some unusual hours.

I have to do things outside of my comfort zone.

Despite all this there is no doubt in my mind that it is all worth it. I look forward to my placement days and the challenges and experiences it brings.

Perseverance: I’ve been thrown in the deep end at work as we received unexpected grant funding allowing us to run an event at less than two weeks’ notice. My role has included producing promotional material, seeking event sponsors and writing a media release.

One of my duties was to produce a promotional poster for the event. I drafted a poster but it was not accepted as it did not comply with the organisations style guide.  My team was keen to use my poster as it was more relevant to our target audience than the sample head office had sent us. I redesigned the poster over a dozen times before finding a suitable middle ground that would be approved.

Normally this is something that would frustrate and disappoint me; however I had been talking to a co-worker in my team. Once graduating she had applied for over 160 jobs and taken over two years to get a position in her field. She was a member of professional bodies and sought assistance from the careers team at her university. Her perseverance to gain a career in her field inspired me. It allowed me to see the drawn out process of getting a poster approved as a lesson in perseverance, staying focused and remaining positive.

The Lesson: Sometimes finding a job might be hard work. It might involve unpaid internships, volunteering, multiple job applications and rejections. The challenges you come across during your internship are similar to the challenges you will face when looking for work or in your chosen career. Finding something you are passion about is a good grounding for perseverance and can help you get through whatever challenges your workplace throws at you.

I would love to hear how your internships are going. What key attributes do you see as essential to getting the most out of your placements and pursuing a career in public relations?
 

Lessons, lessons, lessons

Hi everyone!

So my time as a PR intern at Swan Districts Football Club has drawn to a close, with its fair share of lessons learnt, both life lessons and PR lessons. I will be graduating this semester, which is very daunting but believe the internship experience has really increased my confidence for the big bad world.

One of the main lessons I learnt from my internship was that I can't learn it all in such a short period of time. I went into my placement knowing I would develop my skills as a PR practitioner by writing Media Releases and helping with events. What I didn't realise is that when I finished, while I feel much more equipped, I will still be learning constantly in my professional life.

As the PR world grows and develops in organisations, the more we are going to have to know and instead of this freaking me out, I am excited to sink my teeth into this new challenge. Instead of dreading the set readings at uni, I am going to seek out books that will help me progress as a professional - and I will enjoy it.

I hope everyone has an amazing break and well done for getting this far.

Keep learning!

Lucy

I’ve never written a water polo match report! & The end of my internship

Time files and this is my final post for PR 393 on my work placement at WA Water Polo.

The highlight of my internship was definitely working at the 2012 FINA World Youth Water Polo Championships in the media team as a media coordinator. It was a highly exciting and challenging position at the very same time, as I had to write match reports, assist with news gathering and publishing and provide the social media content for the tournament. I had to work under large amounts of pressure, as I had to observe the water polo matches and complete a match report within 45 minutes of each game. I was definitely out of my element as I’ve never analysed water polo matches previously and I had to quickly learn how to do that effectively in order to do a write up on a match. This gave a taste of what it would be like to be sports journalist, working for large international sporting events. I was also tasked to update all the social media platforms that included Facebook and Twitter. It was certainly different from working in a office environment, being more fast paced and exciting as reports had to be written and published shortly after matches. I also had the opportunity to interview players for flash quotes that were to be included in the match reports. My match reports were immediately published on the official FINA World Youth Water Polo Championships website right after each match and it was exciting to know that my work was being read by many people following the tournament all around the world.

In my earlier post, I provided updates on planning the Final Night Function that was to be held at the end of the championships for the participants of the competition. It was a successful event that ran smoothly from the beginning to the end (except that it rained a few hours before the function started and the ground was wet and soggy, but that did not prove to be a major problem) and I was relieved that there were no major problems or issues that came up on the night of the function.

Overall, I definitely had a great internship at WA Water Polo. Despite being challenging at times, I feel that I had plenty of opportunities to put the skills that I have learnt in my public relations units at Curtin to practice during the course of my internship. It was a great experience and I am confident that it has prepared me for a public relations related position in the future.

Deva