Hi Fellow PR393 Students!
I’m finally writing my first blog post
since this is basically only my second week into my placement. It has been
difficult for me to find an internship as I started out late and most of the
organizations that I called already have a student intern with them. Though I
have yet to regret my decisions as I am fairly please with my placement with
angelhands.
There were quite a few obstacles I had to
pass before I found my placement with angelhands. Some of which was as mentioned
above as many organization have already taken in a student placement and then I
came across Water Polo WA and got in contact with the person in charged. Because
they have just got a student that would be interning with them this semester,
they have referred me to the Melville Water Polo WA with my main focus being
The 2012 Tom Hoad Cup which takes place at the end of the year. I was so
excited to start with them but it was most likely impossible as the final
report is due in mid November and if I decided to go on, I would not have
gotten very much experience as they only need me most in the months of November
and December. Plus I would not have been able to finish my report in time by
the due date. So I continued looking and got referred to angelhands by another
not-for-profit organization and that is how I got to this point.
I know there are only 5 weeks of classes
left so it is going to be a challenge with how much I will be able to
accomplish when working in the public relations sector at angelhands. But I am
willing to put in the time and effort to learn as much as I can from them and
experience first hand in a real life job in PR. So I have decided to come in 3
days a week, every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to get as much time in as I
can manage.
Angelhands is basically a not-for-profit
organization that helps traumatized victim of crimes. This could include
individuals or families who have been affected either by homicide or by serious
personal violence. In addition, there is only one paid staff within the
organization while the rest are either volunteers or student interns just like
me. This is definitely not like a usual PR internship one would look for and
that it why I am so excited to learn about how their organization operates and
everything else that comes with it.
Because of my short placement with the
organization, my supervisor has got me to get straight to work; though my first
day was quite breezy. I went to the National Health Awareness Day where there
were many other not-for-profit organizations just like angelhands. My job for
the day was to check out all the different organizations at their stalls and
look at the type of marketing and promoting strategies that they have
incorporated. The point of this was to gather information on how angelhands can
improve to become more creative in the future. I also listened to how my
supervisor and volunteers of angel hands spoke to the people and I tried
speaking to them myself but I definitely was not ready for such a huge leap
though talking to other not-for-profit organization’s staff members was quite
interesting as they not only share their promoting tricks but what the
organization means to them and why they chose stick by it. The experience that
I have acquired on that day totally intrigued me. I just could not believe the
stories I was hearing, as I never knew how one’s life could be so terrifying.
Overall the first day on my internship was
very much a chilled out day as I ended at 2.30pm. But I must say, it got me
thinking and wondering what I would be assigned to do for the PR side of
things. I’m glad that I have chosen this organization as my placement for PR
Professional Practice 393.
Till the next post then (:
<3 Deanna C.
