Enjoy it while it lasts!

As I sit here piecing together the whirlwind experience of my PR internship, I am finding it hard to believe how quickly it has come and gone. Just as I placed my foot in the door of a professional workplace, I have been drawn back to the reality of a new university semester, with assignments, tests and readings galore. However, motivating me through the final months of my degree is that I have now accumulated and applied enough knowledge to hit the ground running.

As an intern at 32dsg, I have applied theoretical concepts to client projects, developed professional and ethical practice skills, as well as experienced the demanding nature of the public relations profession.

Throughout my internship, I worked with highly recognised clients and events, namely the Department of Commerce, the Liver Foundation of Western Australia and the Omnivore World Tour. On a daily basis I put years of theory in to practice, completing media releases, facts sheets, news articles, newsletters, social media strategies, feature articles and everything in between. Applying these skills to such vast and influential clients has given me a sense of pride and accomplishment, and has assured me that my degree is relevant; equipping me with the foundations I need to succeed.

Whilst at 32dsg, I was not exposed to any ethical dilemmas; however I grasped the importance of ethical practices within the workplace. A particular example involves 32dsg client, the Liver Foundation of WA, and their new Remote Outreach Program which is targeted particularly at Aboriginal men in rural WA. As this program affects individuals suffering from illness and addiction, care had to be taken in terms of how the program was run, which professionals participated in the program, and how communication would take place. This experience subjected me to the sensitivity required for particular areas of public relations, a concept I had not yet thoroughly considered. When confronted with similar clients in the future, it is essential that I maximise my understanding of the target public, including cultural differences, health and privacy concerns and how these influence methods of communication.

In relation to professional practice, I was surprised to see the lack of importance placed on punctuality in reality (however this may be a result of the small nature of 32dsg). With such emphasis placed on promptness at university, I was shocked to see fellow employees traipsing in to the office at 10am. I was also amazed at the level of professional communication which took place over the phone. In today’s technological society, I had assumed communication took place primarily through online channels such as email and social media. I have since realised that the importance of personal contact remains paramount, and it is unlikely online forums will ever completely replace direct communication through traditional channels.

Furthermore, as 32dsg is a relatively small communications agency, I have discovered the importance of diversifying my skills across various roles. This awareness came as employees at 32dsg perform over a range of areas including event management, marketing, public relations and sponsorship. As a result, I now know that as a public relations practitioner I will not be confined by a specific job description – instead, it is likely that I will perform a range of functions that require me to be dynamic and flexible.

Reflecting on what I enjoyed most is difficult as this experience has equipped me with the skills, wisdom and confidence that I need to excel. I have begun formulating a number of contacts within the profession who have already shared more advice than I hoped for. I now have a strong perception of the public relations profession and where I wish to work, as well as a clear path for my future, including completing my Honours to ensure I am distinguished from fellow graduates. I am happy to say that there is nothing I did not like about my internship; however I would have enjoyed more experience out of the office, for instance at events or press calls.

Concluding my final blog with you, I am excited to announce that 32dsg has offered me a freelance consultancy position that will commence immediately. I am beyond excited and grateful for what this unit unveiled and I wish everyone luck who is still completing their placement. My advice to you, enjoy every moment while it lasts.

 

The Impending Internship

(Written on Saturday 27th July 2013)

Hello there fellow PR 393’ers!

Firstly, I think an introduction is in order. My name is Jamie Kho, I’m studying a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing & Public Relations) and this semester, I only have this unit to complete before I graduate. University has just flown by, which I am sure a lot of you would agree with. I hope you guys enjoy reading my blog and I hope to gain many insights into how your internship experiences went as well.

That's me on the left there - if you ever see me around campus, please come and say hi. I'm a very nice person once you get to know me!

As I have yet to start my internship, this blog post is going to be dedicated to the “journey” I took in securing a placement. When I first decided to search for internship options, I asked myself: “what do I want to do after I graduate?” Many things came to mind; media relations, event management, attending business meetings and crisis management were all things that I wanted to at least experience once.

There were so many options that I really didn’t know where to start. I ended up creating a list of about fifteen possible organisations. From there, I called them one by one. Some said they were not currently looking for interns, others told me to call back at a closer date. The one thing that infuriated me the most was there was one organisation which shall remain nameless as I don’t wish to tarnish anyone’s reputation in this blog, said they were interested and would call me back soon. After a week of waiting, I called back. “Oh yes, we are still interested. We’ll call you soon.” One more week past. “Yes, we will call you back as soon as we can confirm dates.” Another two weeks past and still no response. I called back and once again received the same reply. This made me question, as I had exhausted all other possible organisations on the list, I had hedged all my bets on this one company. Should I have continued looking elsewhere instead of hoping for acceptance here? Or was the organisation to blame for giving me “false hope?”

It soon dawned on me though that they were not going to call me back and after wasting weeks on waiting for this company, I knew I had to continue my search for a placement elsewhere. I know at university we’re taught to maintain a certain level of professionalism in the workplace, especially with external stakeholders and yet, I know that this doesn’t always stand true as I had just experienced. This experience only made me step back and re-evaluate how I wanted to behave in the workplace. Professionalism, honesty and dedication are my three cornerstones that I decided would be the backbone of my work ethic and this is all thanks to a failed internship request. Who knew?! There is always a silver lining!

So as you guys now know, I had to continue my internship search. Stressed for time now, as I really didn’t know what career path I wanted to pursue, much like an epiphany, it came to me. Consultancy! Of course, it was right in front of me the whole time. Rather than attempt to work at a specialised organisation, a consultancy would allow me to experience most, if not all aspects of public relations and put all the theoretical knowledge I had leant at uni into practice. First organisation on my list: PPR. Who could go past it? Being the largest PR firm in WA, I had to at least try to get a placement here. I knew it would be competitive but as they say: you have to be in it to win it! As luck would have it, I secured my internship here and could not be happier. I am going to be able to experience many
different aspects of public relations and hope to gain as much knowledge as I can from the accumulation of years and years of experience withheld by the consultants at PPR. I can’t wait and I will keep you guys posted on how it all goes!

Happy Blogging!

Jamie ;)

What makes writing so important?

Hi all, 

Looking back at my 20 days spent at Woodside, I’m realising how important the writing skills of a PR consultant are.

The Oxford dictionary defines writing as the activity or skill of marking coherent words on paper and composing text.

Writing is therefore the vital means of communication within an organisation as it is the primary basis upon which our work is expressed.

Always paying attention to the grammatical errors, to the tense you use and make sure you use the active rather than the passive voice is essential.

I paid lots of attention and time proof reading my work when my mind was refreshed to make sure I didn’t left any basic errors behind.

Good style and quality writing is an essential PR job skill, as most of our tasks require writing convinced and effective documents. I’ve done a multitude of re-writing tasks, and found it quite hard sometimes to keep the meaning but change the structure of a sentence or paragraph. Use different words, find synonyms, keep the information and change the orientation of the sentence. That’s the magic skill of a good PR consultant.

I believe that experience and practice are the only way you can improve your writing skills, and I thank Woodside for the great experience opportunity I had.

Happy writing throughout your careers!

Cheers

Alice

Saying Goodbye to my Invaluable Experience in London!

My internship has quickly come to an end at Chivas Brothers in London and it is very hard to believe I won’t be working with the team in PR again. After working every day for four weeks straight, I feel so comfortable and involved with the team. I learned so much, made some great contacts and have had heaps of laughs working in the office.  I am definitely sad to be leaving London and Chivas Brothers but I will certainly be back to visit! The PR team which is made up of 10 people, including roles such as; the head of PR, international PR managers and internal communications manager were all so welcoming and I had so much fun with them every day!

Here is a photo of most of the team and myself in the middle on my last day at the office, I’m going to miss them all lots!

Over my time at Chivas Brothers it has allowed me to reflect on what I want to do in the future, I absolutely loved working and observing the in-house side to PR but I also am much more open to the idea of trying PR consultancy. This is because I was lucky enough to sit in at meetings with different PR consultancies that were pitching ideas to Chivas Brothers and I loved the creativity and idea of being a part of a consultancy which work with a range of different clients.

I have also realised that there are certainly some pros and cons about working at such a large global company. I personally loved the excitement and really enjoyed the global aspect of every decision made; it allowed me to understand better what the lecturers say at uni about being conscious of other country cultures when doing any PR or marketing in order to succeed. However there were some areas in which I think working for a smaller organisation could be better. Here are some of my thoughts about the pros and cons of doing my internship in a large global organisation:

The pros:

• I get to see how big budgets are used
• I am starting to understand the process of ensuring all strategies need to be suited to every market around the world, or need to be adjusted slightly for certain markets in order to succeed globally
• It is challenging me to think more creatively and strategically in order to fit into an international company
• I am aware that it is such a great opportunity for future reference and a once in a life-time experience
• Great team work and very exciting to have so many different PR roles in the one team

The cons:

• There are times when I feel everyone is too busy and I’m in the way a bit by asking questions
• I feel like you can’t really put your own ideas into action as easily, there needs to be a lot of discussion and generally has to be suitable on an international basis 
• A lot of employees which can be overwhelming 

As a whole, I enjoyed working in this big company; however, I would definitely like to experience working in a smaller company to truly be able to compare them both and determine which one suits my style the best.
The work I completed over my time at Chivas Brothers allowed me to recognise my area of strength and weakness. This was made evident to me through not only the feedback from my supervisor but also from  the way in which I handled each task, i.e. the amount of time it took me to complete and the amount of help I had to seek to finish it.

I found that my biggest strength which has been formed over my uni degree would be my ability to write in a professional manner. I was given a number of tasks which required me to write professionally as they were documents which would be read across all Chivas Brothers offices worldwide.  This included an article I wrote in the internal ‘Salute’ magazine, emails I sent to all staff members with the weeks press coverage and creation of two different PowerPoint presentations on Chivas Regal and Royal Salute (two major whisky brands) which are to be used for future clients. I found that I was able to effectively use the theory and practice from my university degree in a practical work setting.

The area in which I struggled the most and have identified as my biggest weakness is thinking on a global scale. There were many meetings which I attended that required everyone to put forward ideas for a global campaign; one for example was regarding the Chivas Regal whisky brand, I did give some input, however I struggled to think internationally and about different cultures. I think this type of information will develop over time, as you learn the markets in which the company targets when you work there on a regular basis.

Overall, this internship has been an amazing and invaluable experience. I have learnt that you must always give 110% to every task you are given, ask questions and to enjoy what you are doing. The one thing that I noticed at Chivas Brothers is that although there are 3 levels and different departments within the building, everyone knows each other and always seemed to be enjoying their work- I never saw a dull face. I think this aspect of 'enjoying work' is the most important lesson learnt of all, because work becomes such a huge part of your life (as I have experienced, working everyday for 4 weeks straight) and you have to be passionate about what you are doing in order to succeed!

On my last day, I was taken out for lunch at a nearby English Pub and was given a beautiful card and present. I also gave my supervisor a present and card and gave the rest of the team a card with some cookies to share!

Here are some of the yummy cookies I bought in for the team on my last day! If you ever go to London try some of Millie’s Cookies, there delicious!

Although this work experience has come to an end, I am now looking forward to finding more work experience in order to expand my knowledge and I am so excited for what the future holds. The past 20 days has made me realise how much I love the Marketing and Public Relations industry and I cannot be more excited to finish this chapter in my life and put my skills learnt at university into action in the real work environment.

Thank you for reading my blog and all the best to everyone!

Gemma O’Hart.

Event management....not just glitz and glam!!

welcome to my first blog everyone!!

 I have started my internship at The Breakwater, located at Hillary's boat harbour. It is a dynamic venue that has two bars, a fine dining restaurant and also a well renowned private function room. over my time here i will be working mainly with the events co-ordinater to help organise and plan mostly wedding and corporate dinners.

I have been working closely with the events manager Christie Reid and am learning quickly, the pace is fast and being organised is essential. Juggling and planning many events at one time means that you have to have a clear method of keeping on top of things and making sure tasks get done accordingly.

 On my first morning i had my internship, Christie already had 10-15 un-answered emails that had to be addressed before moving on to other tasks. The first thing i have noticed is Christie professional approach to answering every emails. even if she cant help the client she thanks them and keeps the professional relationship positive for any future events.

So far i feel like i am learning many practical skills and especially the importance of being professional, i am looking forward to learning more and hopefully attending and running an event in future weeks.

Communication Should Be Easy

In today’s working environment, open communication should be the simplest of tasks keeping all employees in the loop. However, this is a fantasy in most cases because the reality is, everyone has their own priority list and they don’t necessarily align with marketing and PR objectives.

At Hames Sharley, I found this particularly difficult at first. Mostly because as previously mentioned, I was just a student intern and second because I was too shy or intimidated to do the easiest thing and approach a director or colleague to get a simple answer. Since becoming more confident and familiar with everyone there, it has become easier but when you need information quickly, it’s still a hassle trying to convince your target that your two minutes is worth taking them away from a busy schedule of creating designs, submissions etc.

The marketing assistant (Bec), came back to me with a fantastic system I found useful when I’m not getting what I need.

1. Email the person with the information you require and a deadline
2. Follow up with an email if the deadline isn’t met
3. Phone the person if there is no response
4. If you’re still not getting the information, email them again, copying in a director associated with the task at hand to create a sense of obligation for them to respond

Since this bit of advice which I utilized when I was fairly new and still quite shy, Siaw has told me, just go talk to them. This was the easiest by far. Everyone is approachable and willing to help when you’re face to face. It’s quicker and more information rich because usually more questions not previously thought of can arise through conversations and you gain a better insight into what you’re actually researching through greater clarification of facts. Needless to say, I have sucked it up and taken initiative which in the end has really paid off.