I was holding off until my last blog post to deliver my incredibly good news! Before my placement supervisor left (which was incredibly sad for team and I) she told me I'd been recommended for her role as Public Relations and Bequests Officer. By this point I only had two or three weeks of interning left at Guide Dogs WA.
Not wanting to get my hopes up, I calmly went about my regular business. 'Lo and behold, a week later I'm having a meeting with the executive manager of philanthropy. Fast forward two-and-a-half weeks and I'm leaving my interview with HR. They were going to make me an offer.
Two days later the offer pops in to my inbox: I can work part time until classes were over. I happily accept, because this is basically the perfect job: it's for a great cause, the communications team are amazing and I've already been acquainted with the organisation for long enough to be comfortable in accepting a bigger role.
Well, now that classes are over - I'm a full time PR Officer! The Internship process worked - but it wasn't as simple as all that!
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| The beginning of 2015, when I completed the HBF Run for a Reason blindfolded for Guide Dogs WA |
The task was to recruit a number of runners for Guide Dogs WA in the upcoming HBF Run for a Reason. A group of six, some of whom you can see above, eagerly grabbed this chance to volunteer with Guide Dogs WA.
During my volunteering, I managed to talk the organisation into giving me a rare PR internship. With a bit of luck and lots of campaigning for my own cause, it came through.
The moral of this story is it can take some extra work to get the graduate job. Oh, and if you're interested in joining the John Curtin Leadership Academy, apply here and tell them Elena sent you!
See you guys in the PR game
- Elena
2 comments:
Congratulations Elena!
You must be stoked! I also received a job offer after completing my internship and it's just an incredible feeling to know that your skills, personality, creativity and knowledge is valuable enough to an organisation that they ask you to say on (and also pay you!). I definitely agree with your sentiment about pursuing other volunteer roles and experiences like the Leadership academy, I think that entries such as that on a CV show an employer that you're serious about joining the industry.
Over the weekend I was working at the Beaufort Street Festival for my employer JumpClimb and I was amazed at the one hundred or so volunteers who gave up their day to assist. After speaking with a few of them I realised that the majority were looking to start a career in events management. While a position such as that doesn't 'give you a job' it definitely looks good on your CV and demonstrates your passion and enthusiasm while giving you a touch of experience!
Again, well done on the job and here's to a great career in PR!
Heather Kate
Congratulations on your new job Elena. It must be an amazing feeling to secure a position at such a great organisation. I too am hoping to do PR work for a charity organisation in the future. I'm currently interning at Amnesty International, and I know they'd love for me to keep volunteering beyond my 20 days but they don't really offer paid positions. I have had a pretty good look online though and I can see plenty of well paid PR charity jobs. Most want a few years experience though! I'm sure I'll get there though. You must have done a great job during your internship to get a job at Guide Dogs WA at such an early point in your career. All the best, Jolene.
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