Lesson #4 Why interning is a MUST

WE MADE IT! It’s the home stretch being in the last week of uni for the semester and I think it’s pretty safe to say we’re all looking at graduating very soon. So, congratulations to all of us!

The biggest lesson I’ve learnt from this interning experience is how valuable it will be when we work for real in the industry.

My placement went a little bit longer than planned and I stretched out one to two days a week over six months. I did this because for one - I loved the place I was interning at, two - I was learning so much and three - it really helped me makes sense of what I was learning this semester.

I believe I have learnt the most from the internship unit than any other unit from my degree. Although, I learnt key theory and techniques at university, the internship allowed me to apply my knowledge to real life client and consultancy experiences.

For example, I was able to write real blogs and media releases for clients, research a number of sources for client appraisals, sit in on strategy workshops, pitch in ideas for strategy plans, evaluate campaigns and most of all become a central part of the PR team.

It has taught me that if I don’t know something - I can always ask and that’s okay! It’s pushed my thinking outside the box and to sometimes step away from textbook learning to be creative and different.

We’ve all heard the expression - “to get a job you need experience but you can’t get experience without a job” or something similar.

This is why interning is so important. It almost acts like a capstone for everything we have learnt throughout the public relations degree. For myself, I look back to when I first began interning and thinking “wow, I’m really not prepared for this!”. Well, what if that was my first job?

Interning has given me the real life hands on experience I needed to gain the confidence to  work in the PR industry. I can add it to my resume and show future employer prospects that I’m dedicated, knowledgeable and capable of owning my role.

It’s great to see Curtin University include this type of unit  as mandatory to complete our degree and acknowledge the need for practical experience in degrees outside of sciences and education.

And I can safely say, it’s left me feeling more ready than ever to tackle the real world.