Goodbye Scitech

Last week I completed my work placement at Scitech.
I began my placement in February and have been there every Thursday and Friday since.
In the past week I have been finishing up my final report for PR393 and it has allowed me to reflect on my time with the organisation and what I have learnt.

Scitech conducts public relations in a very practical hands on way. I wrote countless drafts of media releases during my placement which helped me in honing my writing skills while promoting various events or Scitech services.

As Scitech is a not for profit organisation, funding and staffing are limited, which means the communications team that conducted all of the public relations work at Scitech had to be multi skilled.
Every day I would be doing something different. While people would have their specialities it seems in a small organisation it's crucial that anybody be able to complete a variety of different tasks in order to meet deadlines and keep stories that are going out timely.

I think it was beneficial for me to work in an organisation that conducts public relations in this way, rather than only specialising in one area. It allowed me to improve on a range of skills including media release writing, preparing for events, writing for social media, website management, communicating with stakeholders and planning promotions.

Now I feel well equipped to enter the workforce after graduation and ready to continue improving these skills, no matter where I end up working.

What a relief!!!!!!!

As I continued to progress through my public relations degree, at Curtin University, I had pieced together a mental picture of the professional lifestyle that awaited me as a PR graduate . I was not to excited. I had envisioned a job that was full of media releases, pr plans and more media releases. As an individual that thrived on energy, creativity and unpredictability , the thought of a simply structure, 9-5, office job scared me.

I had come to the conclusion that if the abnormally high levels of caffeine wouldn't force me out of university through sickness than repetition that came through the public relations coursework syllables most probably would.

I was half way through my second last semester of university ( October 2012) when I  decided that I wanted  to get involved in volunteering. I contacted multiple non-for-profit organizations and was knocked back by majority. One of the last organizations that I contacted was St Patrick's Community Support Centre. This non-for profit was an organization that offered services and housing for the homeless community of Fremantle and the surrounding southern suburbs.

I spoke to the manager of the Public Realtions team Lisa Garside and told her that I was university student looking to volunteer at the centre. After a set of meetings I was brought on as a volunteer public relations officer.

Ever since my first day in that office my negative view towards the public relations profession has changed.

Our team at the organization is responsible for pr, marketing, advertising, event management,  aspects of finance and hr, along with logistics and brand development. The energy and vibes that are created in the office promote and foster creative and out-of-the-box thinking, whilst also adopting traditional PR approaches.

Since October I have been promoted from a volunteer to a part-time team member and as a team of four we have accomplished many things including:

• Designing, setting up and managing a vintage clothing store, St Pat's Rack ( Check on Facebook)
• Promoting and building the brand of  the "Starlight Hotel Choir"
• Hosting Federal Minsters and other V.I.P's at our organizational HQ's
• Providing marketing and PR support for the entire organiastion

Although I found the PR elements of my double major at times laborious and utterly boring I can now appreciate the importance that they play in your development as a PR professional.  Not only did these PR units teach me and ingrain in my mind essential PR skills, but they also taught me the essential skills of professional communication.

This is all for now.

Till next time.

Jamie Lobo