Using unexpected skills!

Design Practice 172. Any Event Management students remember that unit? I know people that even took it as an 'elective' because it was considered a 'fun' unit. 

At the time I also considered it relatively fun for a compulsory unit, however I didn't really think about how I would be using it in the future!

Little did I know, the skills I learnt would become invaluable in my PR internship! My PR supervisor was formerly a product designer and therefore has amazing graphic design abilities! 

She has been great with allowing me to develop my skills in this area. She will allow me to work on design projects, and after allowing me to play around and figure out things on my own, she will help me by showing me quicker and easier ways to do things. 

It has deepened my understanding of the different tasks a PR Officer may have to undertake, especially in such a small department (in my case only one person!). In a school there is so much more going on than I expected, and almost everything needs something designed in some form or another. Doing this in-house instead of outsourcing this service produces much faster turnaround times, yet is still high quality because of the programs and skills available in-house. 

What skills have you had to use in your internship that you thought you wouldn't have to? 

It's over. Do you think they will notice if I don't go and just stay there?

So my internship has come to an end, in my final week I tied up loose ends and did a few odd jobs for some consultants.
This has been an amazing experience that I will never forget and has given me such a great insight into how a public relations firm works. I was sad to say goodbye to everyone and can't believe just how quickly the past four weeks has dlown by, it seems like only yesterday that I first stepped foot into the building and was greeted by so many new faces.

For my last day I baked everyone some cupcakes and macarons to say thank you for helping me out over the last four weeks and for teaching me so many new skills and expanding my knowledge base.

I'm finishing my internship with the knowledge that I have definitely chosen the right career path and cannot wait to graduate from university and begin the rest of my working life as a consultant in a public relations firms.

I hope everyone had an experience as good as mine and good luck to those who are only just starting their internships!!!

The ethical difference in Asia

Hi again everyone,

In reference to my last post on event's co-ordination, we all know that our ethical behavior and ethical norms are essential for a PR Practioner anywhere around the world. When i was co-ordinating the event and several other projects, i was subjected to a few ethical queries that i was sure would not be seen as ethical or normal in Australia.

For example, in order to sign contracts and gain business deals i sometimes had to wine and dine some of the industry professionals in order to even get them to read my proposals. I found it quite difficult to understand at first because i thought i was bribing them to read my documents. Slowly i learnt that in order to get them to be interested, going out for lunch, dinner or after hours drinks were the most suitable time to discuss proposals; not because they want a free meal but because it was less stressful and it allowed a more comfortable atmosphere to discuss each others wants, needs and benefits out of the deal.

It was quite a learning curve for me and it took some time for me to actually gain a hold of the communication level my supervisor was on; essential the way we converse about a proposal is so different and it was not just about knowing when to be polite, aggresive or kind but to know when to be persuasive in the friendliest manner was the hardest for me to adjust to.

Overall, communication skills are so important in asia that there is a whole other language when it comes to making deals. I definitely learnt a lot when i followed my supervisor around and had the chance to try this myself as well.


Thanks again!

Jun

It's all in the confidence!

This here is my final assignment I need to submit in order to become a graduate and a "professional" in my field.  Prior to completing my internship, I was doubting myself, questioning myself - was I qualified enough, was I equip with all the skills to do a good?  Safe to say that after the completion of my internship, the answer is YES!

To me, public relations has a lot to do with confidence.  You must have confidence in not only yourself, but your organisation, your product and your team.  This may not be something that they teach at university, however, it is needed to apply all the skills and techniques you have learnt.

A lot of the time whilst I was doing my internship, I was sent off by myself, to work individually.  Working unsupervised in a new profession was nothing by daunting for me.  What if I was to make the wrong decision?  What if my manager thought my idea was ridiculous or even worse, a waste of time?  I came to realise that if I did make a decision and I stuck with it, she believed in me and my idea more.  

So for those of you who doubt yourself, doubt your knowledge or doubt what you have learnt.  DO NOT!  We are equip with all the right tools.  Have faith in what you know and make the changes you want to see!

The bits and pieces

I don't think I have ever walked into work or any of my classes, as excited as I was today to go into Communicare, it was like something had taken over and all I wanted to do was start my day.

Why you may ask! and the reason for this was today I had to make sure everything was going to be ready for the event being thrown on Thursday. I had the whole responsibility upon me, I knew the individuals I was working with were amazing and would have taken care of certain elements, but it was left to me to do the rest.

Walking in at my usual 8:30 time,  I once again checked my emails to see what was going on. One of my main tasks of planning the event was putting numbers together, once participants had paid to attend the event. This was the first thing I did in order to be aware of how many packs etc I needed to get ready for the day. As I compiled the list etc and got all the elements ready to make the little Communicare packs for the event, which consisted about information of the different services, a pen and notepad, I was once again surprised at the amounts of work that went into an event, it was no walk into the park. I also had to get name badges ready, which needed to be made, printed cut into size etc. At a non-for-profit organisation, most things are encouraged to be done in house rather than getting the printer to do it etc because of the costs attached.

Doing everything in house, it let me to think do big organisations also do everything in house, or rather because they are so large, they have the luxury of getting all their printing and cutting done by a printer whenever they desired. Prior to coming to do my work placement at Communicare, I had only even used a cutter maybe once, and my cutting had be quite disturbing, I never understood why I could never cut straight and now I use the cutter at every shift sometimes twice and I am so pedantic that I have to make sure everything I am cutting is straight and perfect, if not I start again.

I understand that at times big profit organisations make the huge amounts of  money and they can afford to pay for simple things like making of folders etc off site, but I dare to ask do individuals working in non-for-profit do more than them? Are individuals in a non - for- profit organisations have more technical skills, that is putting together folders, laminating etc more than those working in a profitable organisation?

These questions are not questions I would have previously thought about, but putting together this event, I wondered; may the work was getting to me, the cutting of 50 pages, of the compiling of so many folders but I had a good time doing it and everything seemed to be going fine. I secretly think I did a good job (if not I do not think they would ask me to help them out with the next event coming up!)

Final Days

Final Days

Hi everyone,

I am now getting to the pointy end of my time at Scitech Discovery Centre as the semester is wrapping up and the report is due tomorrow!

I have enjoyed every minute of my time at Scitech and have decided to stay on and extend my time to one day a week until I get a job in the industry. I was advised from my supervisor that it looks good on a resume when applying for jobs to currently still be working at an internship, even only one day a week. I also thought about how I would be lost without my Wednesday and Thursday mid week Scitech fix.

I am very thankful the the whole team there and have learnt many skills that I can take out of this experience. I now have confidence in writing press releases, compiling media monitoring information and how to generally act in a professional work place.

I hope everyone enjoyed their time as much as I did and maybe some of you are also extending your placement for the fun of it..

Until next time!
Brooke
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