A few weeks ago I started my practical
placement. Getting here was not an easy task however. Over the summer I kept
thinking about my practical placements and where I would like to go. I had
already done quite a bit of work experience for PR with the Fremantle Dockers
last year and also over December and January working with PR goddess Rosita
Stangl at the 2012/2013 Hyundai Hopman Cup Both were absolutely amazing
experiences and ones I would never forget but of course both concerned sport
and so I thought about doing something a little bit different. And so my
journey began…
I probably sent out resumes and cover
letters to about 10-15 different public relations consultancies and
organisations around Perth. All of the people I spoke to either already had an intern
or didn’t have the time for an intern at that stage. It got to the point where
I thought to myself: Am I ever going to complete this unit and graduate? I
didn’t care where I wanted to go at this point, I was just desperate for a
placement and that experience! So I put looking off for a while and decided to
let fate handle itself as it was still January and a lot of consultancies were still
on holidays.
A couple of weeks passed and I still hadn’t
heard anything. So I went on blackboard and saw a few positions posted on there
and thought I would give Shine Communications a go.
That following week on the exact same day I
heard back from three different placements saying they were interested and
wanted me to come in for an interview. One was Shine Communications, and the others
were Muse Bureau and Professional Public Relations. I decided to go to all of
the interviews and then if successful pick which one suited me best. I did that
and ended up being offered a placement at all three! I went from being really
desperate and wanting anything to now being faced with having to decide between
three! And they were all so different.
Muse Bureau is a real artsy consultancy
whose clients mainly revolve around theatre, music, fashion and culture. I
thought it would probably be interesting but the arts isn’t really something I
want to focus my career on and I personally thought my strengths would be better
elsewhere.
Professional Public Relations is a much
larger consultancy whose clients range all over Australia and the world. I was
really excited to be considered by them seeing as they are based not only in
Perth but also in the eastern states, and because that had such a large and
broad range of clients ranging from Emirates to Bunnings. They were only offering
four weeks full time however and because of university this deemed pretty much
impossible so to my regret I had to turn them down also.
This left Shine Communications, which so
far has everything I have been looking for. Run by Ruth Simpson and Samantha
Mills (who was actually a graduate of this unit just over a year ago), their
clients include non-for-profit such as the Princess Margaret Hospital
Foundation and the Motor Neurone Disease Association of Western Australia, but
also more corporate ones such as BHP Billiton and Shell Development Australia.
I’m very lucky Ruth took me on because she already had another student from
Curtin working with her but said she’d be more than happy to have me on board
as well, which was great. Being a very small consultancy Ruth runs things from
her home where she has an office for herself and her interns. At first I was a
bit scared about this because I wasn’t sure what it would be like to work from
home or whether I would struggle as I thought I would be thrown in the deep end
straight away.
Since starting a few weeks ago however I
have to say that I wouldn’t have it any other way. Working in a smaller
consultancy means there is more to do which means more experience, and I have
definitely been gaining on experience! The very first week I was off to a
meeting with the Motor Neuron Disease Association of WA then back to her house
writing up a media release for her pro bono client – the Shenton Park Dogs’
Refuge Home.
Every week I go to the Refuge Home to
supervise in a photo shoot and filming for one of the dogs of the home in the
hope it gets them adopted. So far the majority of my work has been for the
Dogs’ Home and I’ve had to chase up interviews and write media releases for
them about three times a week. At first this was daunting but I’ve written so
many I am now very used to it and Ruth has been absolutely fantastic and
teaches me as I go making sure I’ve got everything down pat. I’ve also written a few pregnancy blogs for
client Mercy Care and think I can safely say I am now prepared for parenthood –
though I’m not planning that anytime soon I can tell you!
The other great thing about working from a
business from home is that Ruth is very flexible with my practical hours. Some
days if I have a lot of study to do Ruth will send me work which I can work on
from my own home. I have been doing that for the past two weeks and it’s been
different but great – there is just something so satisying about not having to
put on business pants or a business skirt to have to go to work, I can just
work in my trackies! The hard part however is not getting distracted, but
deadlines help me with that and it’s been good so far.
I now can confidently say I am pretty sure
I will graduate! My posts from now on will be more about the work I do at Shine
Communications but just thought I would share my experience with you about how
I went about getting my practical placement and wondering if anyone else
experienced difficulty (or frustration) when finding their placements.
For now, adios!
