Just Do It

I am a perfectionist.

Guess what I discovered? I am also super creative.

During my internship I found that I could come up with great ideas in meetings and I really enjoyed working with themes for events. I got to design a logo and advertisement layout and people spoke highly of my ideas. I even pitched a few ideas to the team and had them taken on board. I gave everything a go. Sure, many things had to be edited or refined, but things got done-and with great results.

In the past I would let my ideas of perfectionism (and fear of failure) stop me from starting a project because I wasn’t sure I had the skills or knowledge to get the level of result I wanted. 

Now I’ve finished my internship and been offered a paid project. The nature of the project requires specialised knowledge-which I don’t have-but am confident I can easily learn.

Here is what I suggest:

Start with creativity

Polish with perfectionism

Just doing it is a good start

It shows initiative and ability to take feedback.

It allows freedom to bring ideas to the table.

It makes work a lot more fun.

It helps you stand out from the crowd.

 

 

I would love to hear what you are learning about yourself through your internship.

 

Challenge: 4 Weeks Without a Supervisor

When I first started my internship it was noted that there would be a period of about 4 weeks when I would be left by myself in the marketing and PR department, “no worries” I said at the time “I’ll hold the fort”. Then suddenly it was the beginning of April, and I was left alone.

In the week leading up to my manager’s trip to Europe and the marketing assistants trip to America I tried to get as much information from them as I could and we compiled a long list of action items that I could work through whilst they were away. At first I was nervous at being left alone, but after my first day ‘holding the fort’ I realized that after almost 15 days over 2 months working at the company, I had learnt a lot more than I realized and gained a confidence in myself and my abilities that was not there before.

Whilst my supervisors were away I worked through the action items and tried my best not to email for help instead taking the initiative and working through things myself or with help from others in the office. The month went smoothly and I came out the other end with an almost complete list and even a few additions.

When meeting with my manager and colleague the week they both returned, I was proud to show them a list of completed items, some new ideas, a printed advertisement and the media release that would be printed the following month for which I had interviewed one of our clients, a major Oil and Gas company in WA.

Overall, as daunting as it was to find myself so abruptly left alone, it was a necessary learning curve that saw me work independently to a deadline and enabled me to gain confidence in myself avoiding reliance on others. It also saw me begin to create my own presence within the company as I met more and more people and took on more responsibility. 

Getting out of my cocoon

Hello all,

I would like to give you an overall overview of my stay at Immedia. Personally it was an enriching experience. I have to admit that before my internship I happened to be very shy. However the internship helped me to get out of my cocoon and boost up my self-confidence. My 25 days at Immedia also gave me the opportunity to meet loads of people: Immedia's wonderful team, journalists, international musicians, local artists - poets and singers and other eminent personalities. I have been able to develop my communication skills and I am not afraid to voice out my opinions anymore. Even to get that internship, I personally went to talk to Immedia's director and my supervisor who is the agency's communication manager and told them about PR 393 requirements. Initially I hesitated but I dared do it and now I don't regret it at all. As we say, communication is the key to success! And this is how we at Immedia, managed to successfully attain the agency's goals- through communication.

Divya G

Newbie In The Workplace

Public relations internship is definitely an essential path in helping students to land lucrative positions in the field. It provides us opportunities to be involved in the decision-making process rather than just theoretical learning, more importantly it allows us to get a vital experience in the real world working environment. 

The role of being an intern-assistant in Momentum Forum Events associates with many challenges which include multitasking, fast and creative thinking, stimulation and effective communications. It is so much more than being a coffee girl in the office who manages minor tasks for the boss such as arranging schedules, printing documents and getting break beverages. The variety of my daily work tasks involves the following:

·            Managing incoming email inquiries

·            Researching and sourcing potential sponsors

·            Helping to prepare sponsorship proposals

·            Liaising with venues and suppliers

·            Communicating with the media

·            Aiding in the development of media releases, radio advertisement scripts etc

·            File management and data entry

·            Producing electronic newsletters and other related documents; and sending to database contacts

·            Assisting in updating the Momentum Forum Website

·            Event assistant

Since this is my first office-type job I struggled at the beginning. I need to type faster; I was so nervous I could not spell the words; I was not sure how the email system works etc etc… Although I was so new I was picking up fast. I remember once the boss told me ‘you’ve done well today’ at the end of my shift I was really happy. I could not explain the brilliant feeling when I looked through the work tasks I had done for the day – there were big amounts of sponsorship invitation emails, contacts lists and more. 

The biggest thing I learnt during the first few shifts of my internship is that quality is definitely more than quantity – the fewer the words the better. People in the real business world are extremely BUSY; no one would have the time to read through your 40+ pages document, sometimes I wonder why us university students do it so much. The success key is to be straight to point, I have now totally comprehend why they say it’s all about quality rather than quantity. I couldn’t help it wondering if Barbara – CEO of Momentum has even read through the 29 pages media strategy plan I conducted for her two weeks back as I started my internship. I think the best way to approach strategies is to go straight into the innovative ideas and benefits; I have some ideas regarding the use of active social media event promotion, I need to think about an effective way to communicate the pitch.

Another issue I have come across with during the first days of my internship associates with professionalism and confident. I can be a very shy person in the new environment; sometimes I totally lose my confident and speak in a very soft voice. There was a time I was asked to make a phone call to confirm a corporate contact detail with one of the manager’s assistant, I spoke so quietly the person over the phone could hardly hear me even after I repeated myself numerous times, it wasn’t professional. After the phone call my boss told me that I must speak louder and be more confident. “If you don’t speak with confidence you have no value, how would people listen to you when they can’t even hear you” my boss said. She was extremely right. I need to work on my self-confident and overcome the language barriers. Barbara is also an immigrant and she has a Polish accent, but she always speaks in a strong and persuasive tone. I want to be an independent and powerful woman in the workforce like her.

The learning journey can be tough but there is so much to gain. I must challenge my limits and surpass them.