The first Daunting Deadline!

The first week is down and it’s been the most challenging, exhausting, rewarding and fun week. It has also been a learning curve, one that I'm happy to ride along.

On my first day I was extremely nervous to start. Living an hour from my internship, it was daunting working out pubic transport times and stops to make sure I was early. Arriving at the building and catching the elevator to the second level my heart started to race. However as the doors dinged open my nerves disappeared when I seen the receptionist.

The receptionist turned out to be my friend from university who was recently hired and will be making her way up in the organisation to a consultant. Having that familiar face made all the nerves, racing heart and worries disappear.

Throughout the week I was introduced to so many great workers who range in roles from senior account executives, account managers, senior accountants, junior accounts and PR assistants. The atmosphere in the building is great everyone is happy and willing to have a chat, as well as dedicated hard workers.

Having a helpful, friendly team has been a bonus with correcting my writing. I was given the task to change a release for the ASX into a more easy to read article for a newspaper with a deadline of 2 hours. Being my second day I was definitely feeling the nerves. This article wasn’t going to a tutor to mark it was going to a real life paper to be published and that was daunting. However every one was extremely helpful with improvements and encouraging with what I had produced.

Although the article was still edited and cut down by my colleague, he said it was a great first go. Following this my colleague sent me an article a day to do for three days and with each one improving, by the last one i wrote there barely any editing or changes were made. Practice makes perfect!

I am looking forward to the next week and improving my skills. I can’t wait to see what is in store for next week after this very busy and super fun week. 

Chelsea :)

Starting to Understand (What Representing Two Organisations is Like)

I'm one of those people who can't multi task. 

If my nanna were sitting here next to me, she'd make the typical comment, "you make a terrible woman," - apparently we're supposed to be multi tasking wizards.

So now that I'm identifying publicity opportunities for not just my student placement location, Guide Dogs WA, but also at a non-profit I have just volunteered for, I'm having a bit of an existential crisis.

Image via Flickr / Creative Commons / Emilien Etienne

My mind is constantly in news generating mode. It's like being stuck in a group conversation on Facebook where messages are being sent every half-second (or as fast as your inconsiderate friends can type).

News that's too late to act on, news that's happening tomorrow, follow-up stories to write in my diary for August 2016.

It's why I have such an affinity for media relations, and why I took on the role of media coordinator voluntarily for my non-profit organisation.

But after a few weeks of juggling both roles, I've realised I can only really focus on one person/group/organisation's media effectively enough to do the job justice.

Sure, I can switch from thinking about one to the other, but it's like writing half an essay then opening a new Word doc to begin the next.

Therefore I'm coming to realise that I'm a one-company woman. Having one company I can devote time to, channel my creativity into, and generally work to improve is my kind of job.

In other words, I'd be pretty pitiful interning at a PR consultancy. I bow down to everyone who is handling their placement in the consultancy environment at the moment. You amaze me.

Have a good week, everyone!


- Elena

The Real World

It’s not unsurprising that in the past few weeks I have made the discovery that the real world of Public Relations is quite different to the one we were taught in the classroom. Coming to the end of third year, I have learnt to apply PR theory to lots of situations. But, I am certain that northing could have prepared me for the experience of working for a paying client. It’s incredibly nerve-racking and exciting all at the same time. What if they don’t like my work? What happens then? Did I mention they were paying? Luckily I was able to work with a team of wonderful and very experienced experts at the Strategic Communications consultancy gtmedia. As a consultancy, gtmedia works with a very large scope of clients, from property developer Psaros to diary experts Brownes. Over the coming months I look forward to being able to apply the PR theory I learnt in class to a range of clients and situations.

On my first official day as an intern my task was to write a mock media release for the not-for-profit Western Australian organisation HeartKids. After looking through old documents to see how gtmedia structured their media releases, and giving it my best attempt, I sat down with one of the advisors to go through my work. She explained to me the skill of active writing, correct tense and avoiding cliché language. Later when I wrote my next media release, about a new Chicken Treat store opening, she noted how my writing had already improved significantly by putting her advice into practice. Even though I have quite a few media releases under my belt now, I still refer back to the advice she gave me on that particular day. Being able to sit down and talk through my work with a professional was fantastically beneficial.

The real world of PR teaches you that honestly, more often than not, things don’t go to plan. Countless times in class we have devised a PR plan for a client. These are normally real clients, but unfortunately we don’t get to put our plans into practice and see if they would work in the real world. A PR plan that I contributed to during the first few weeks at the company was to do with Chicken Treat’s launch of their Royal Burger. There were many parts to the plan, but one of them was to deliver the burger to different media stations. Thankfully in the end it was a success, but we did have to overcome a lot of obstacles under time pressure. For instance, one of the media stations pulled out a couple of days before we were going to deliver their burger and we also had to figure out a way of keeping the burgers warm while transporting them. In the end, we found a replacement for the media station that had pulled out, and all burgers were delivered warm and on time. PR-wise it was a great success with lots of publicity generated over social media and in The West Australian newspaper. 

I can safely say, the real world is much more exciting than sitting in a classroom, and has cemented for me that this is the industry I want to work in.

Until next week.

Consultancy>In-House

Nearing the end of my degree, I've noticed the talk during class changing.  Sure, there's still the usual 'Oh God, I forgot to do the readings! Did you do them?!' or 'Do you think the tutor will let us have a break so we can go get coffee while sneakily staring at the good looking barista?" But, like I said, things are changing.  Now, you hear everyone discussing where they'd like to eventually work.  Consultancy, In-house, not-for-profit- there's plenty to choose from, but which is right for YOU.

Even in my group of friends in class, there's still varying answers even though we all seem to have the same interests outside of university and work.

For me, it has always been consultancy.

I began my university journey studying nursing straight out of high school.  A big change to what I thought I wanted to do with my life. True to my initial instincts,  I decided it wasn't for me, so deferred and entered the workforce.  It was then that I landed my first administration role.  It was at Devahasdin Public Relations and where my love for PR began.

Devahasdin Public Relations is a boutique consultancy operating in West Perth which focuses on five key services: publicity, marketing, events, promotions and writing.

The core team working in the office daily consists of Sandra Devahasdin herself, three other account managers, account support/administration and on my placement days, me :).

So yes, there I was at 19 in my first 'proper' job and being overwhelmed at the fast pace but incredibly exciting environment I had found myself in.

It was after working at Devahasdin for 6 months that I decided to get straight back into studying and applied at Curtin to study a Bachelor of Mass Communication, promising the team that I would be back once I was qualified.

And here I am, nearly completing the first half on my placement.

Being at Devahasdin has shown me how demanding the field of PR can be, but also how rewarding.  The team at Devahasdin have once again instilled in me that this is what I want to be doing, I feel like I'm in the right place.

What I love about working in a consultancy environment is that every staff member has the same attitude towards PR and believes it is important.  We've heard in class before how some in-house PR professionals struggle to convince a CEO that Public Relations is worth spending some of the budget for or that it is important enough at all.

Consultancy is all about PR and there is no struggle at work to convince your boss that the job you're doing is actually valuable.

In my first ten days at Devahasdin, not only have I gained a large amount of knowledge about the PR field, I have also learnt that working in a consultancy is exactly where I want to be.

Speak to you all again soon!

Claudia x

Come Away With Me ... Next Destination? (5)

Every great journey must come to an end, but you must then welcome opportunity!

Reflecting back on my experience as an intern at Go Communications in Malaysia, I can confidently say that every experience i've had, has allowed me to grow both personally and professionally. Before commencing the internship i was a naive PR Students with confused expectations, but coming out of it, i feel that my perspective has greatly shifted and I understand the field of PR better.

I had the incredible opportunity of experiencing the following aspects of PR in a real-life environment:

• Workplace Culture
• Media Relations 
• Time Management, and 
• Ethics

Of course, there's so much more to learn, and I'm looking forward to what the future holds for me in the field of PR.

(Photo from newgrids.fr)

I can't say exactly where I'll end up in life, but I can tell you that this experience has sparked my interest in working for a PR consultancy. This is the career route I'll most likely pursue after graduating, but I'll also ensure to keep my options open.

Now, I'd like to sign off with a great quote I recently came across;

“You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are” (Joss Whedon).

Therefore, my PR Placement journey was another significant step in my personal and professional self discovery.

Thank you for reading my blogs, and the best of luck to you all.

Naomi James
Curtin University, Bentley.

Love-Hate Relationship with Phone Calls

Greetings everyone,

Making phone call is not my forte as I have trouble with speaking and trust me, I was so nervous when I was given a task to make phone calls on my third day of my internship. I know I am not going to be better if I didn't train myself with phone calls. So, I took it as a challenge for me. Before I'm making the phone call, I learnt from the other intern, Joan on how they make a media phone call by observing.

As I get a grasp of it, I picked up the phone and dialled the number. My very first phone call was for Nokia Malaysia and my duty was to call the media and enquire if they still keep the Lumia 900 or Lumia 800 device and ask when is the right time to collect the phones from them. It wasn't that hard as I thought and I'm glad I received positive respond for my first few calls that I've made. 

Then, slowly I dare myself to answer every calls the company received and transferred the calls like a receptionist as Joan's contract almost ended so by default, I need to replace her spot as the 'receptionist'. Phone is like my best friend that can be annoying sometime as the calls keep coming in like every 5-10 minutes. There was this one time, I didn't even put down the phone and all I did was pressing the end-call button to make another phone call as there were a lot of calls to be made on that day. Yes, I made phone calls like Chris Gardner before he become a millionaire.

However, not every phone calls are positive. Its a challenge to every PR person to receive negative responder and its a must to remain subtle, calm and nice although deep inside your heart is burning and you feel like screaming and flip your table or throw away the phone. Let me share you my bad phone call experience. When I was in-charge to update the master media database, I called one of the media to enquire about their editorial team. The receptionist were so rude and not being helpful at all as they feel annoyed. Believe me, I wanted to explode but for the sake of the company, I just remain calm and spoke to them nicely and I managed to handle the situation. 

If you're hot tempered person, try to train yourself not to be one. Learn to stay calm and speak politely because you're not only representing yourself but a company. This is a must have characteristics/ skills in every PR person to protect the company's reputation. Once you blow up to the media, you're not the only one who is screwed but the company as well. My advice is, stay calm and be prepared.

All the best.

Best regards,
Fazar Ria Muneera
13761196/ 7D5B3504
Semester 1, 2013
Curtin University Sarawak Campus

PR is Not Just About Writing

Greetings everyone,

From the beginning of my internship, I was never been given a chance to write a news release and honestly I felt a bit depressed and worried at the same time as I have not enough work sample for my report. Until this one fine day before my contract ends, Nokia Malaysia consultant, Gan Kel Sern asked for help from one of us, the interns, as he need to upload photos of Nokia Lumia 920 phone on Nokia Malaysia Facebook page. So, I offered myself to take photos for him as I have passion in photography and plus I need to add up my portfolio. I was assigned to take photos with the following themes:

• Nokia as most personal smartphone
• Valentine's Day

He didn't provide me with DLSR camera and the only camera he offered was Nokia Lumia 920 phone. I was skeptical with the quality at first but I just give it a try to see if its turn out as phone reviewers said about the phone's camera quality. So, I took photos of the phone and I was amazed with the photo quality. After taking few shots of the photos, I passed the phone back to Kel Sern and he chose two best photos to be uploaded. 

The next day, I saw the photos I took were on Nokia Malaysia Facebook page and I was so happy. The links of the photos are below:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=563284517017593&set=pb.113065628706153.-2207520000.1370542244.&type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=563802590299119&set=pb.113065628706153.-2207520000.1370542244.&type=3&theater

Photo is one of the medium in communications. I believe if you have more skills to offer other than writing and ability to speak properly, your value as a PR person is higher. I'm glad my skill in photo taking is applicable during my internship and after that day, they known me as an intern who can take a good photo. I'm glad to get positive feedback from FHKL about my skill. I feel appreciated.

Remember, never give up. 

Best regards,

Fazar Ria Muneera Bt. Safree Zainudin

13761196/ 7D5B3504

Semester 1, 2013

Curtin University Sarawak Campus

Mass communications in PR

Media relations is the core of public relations as it is about liaise with the media to inform about an organisation or company we’re representing. Building a good relationship with the media is very important as they are the one who can help us to convey the key messages to the publics. In fact, the media also need public relations as it is their job to get a story or news for the publication they are working with. Hence, public relations and media need each other.

Press conference is one of the way to communicate with the media in mass. So, what is press conference? It is basically an event where the journalists from different media are gather in one place with company’s spokespersons. The aim is to have Q&A session with the media and to make sure they filled in with information about the company’s profile, programme and etc.

I usually watch press conference on TV news but this time, I was invited by Volvo Trucks Malaysia account holders to help out with a press conference event as well to witness it live. The press conference is called ‘iSTREC: Motorcycles and Trucks’ that aims to inform the media about their plan with governmental bodies to create an innovative solution to reduce crashes between motorcycles and trucks. The press conference was held on January 15th, 2013 at Volvo Trucks Malaysia headquarter in Shah Alam, Selangor.

Volvo Trucks Malaysia Headquarter in Shah Alam, Selangor.

Volvo Trucks Malaysia Headquarter receptionist counter 

The Managing Director of Volvo Trucks Malaysia, Mansoor Ahmed giving his speech.

Officiating the Signing Ceremony of iSTREC: Motorcycles and Trucks

Below were my tasks that I've done :

Before the event:

• To update the media list to ensure the invitation are send to the correct person.

On the day itself:

• Pack the goodie bag (media kit) for the media
• To call the RSVPs to confirm with their attendance as well to enquire whether they can find their way to the place.
• To ensure they register their attendance for us to contact them after the event.
• To take note of questions addressed by the media and answers from the spokespersons. Yes, I have to remember their name and which media they’re representing. I’m very bad in memorising people’s name but I can only remember those who are unique to me. Thankfully, I remembered most of them.

One of the items in the goodie bag.

Media Registration booth.

I was very surprised as press conference is very different from what I’ve watched on broadcast media. At first, I thought one question should be answered by one spokesperson but I was wrong. I asked my colleague, “Is press conference supposed to be this way where one question will be answered by 2-4 spokespersons?” and she said, “yes, in case one person missed one of the important point but it should not be more than 2 or 3 persons actually as things will be a mess”.

How press conference can be a mess? Having so many spokesperson to answer can be misleading to the press as one point might be clash to another. Plus, not everyone can think likewise. The journalist can be likely to include information that may change the publics’ view on the company. Thus, it is crucial for PR practitioner to make sure that the spokesperson are briefed and understood on what should they do for Q&A session with the press.

Remember the Q&A document that we need to prepare for our PR 250 (Media) assignment? That is one of the document that we need to prepare for our client including few other documents such as interview details and tips. The document basically to guide our clients so they know how to handle with the media.

After the event, we need to send out the news release to all of the press who attended and contact them to check if they have received it and will they be using it. When the media said they won’t be using the news release, it is our job to ask why and seek for advice in order for them to accept it. Sound pushy but that is the most gentle way to push in order to get more media coverage as well to improve the media release quality to match with the publication’s preference.

Best regards,

Fazar Ria Muneera Bt. Safree Zainudin
13761196/ 7D5B3504
Semester 1, 2013
Curtin University Sarawak campus

Tick! Tack! Tick! Tack! ....

Hello everyone,

As you can easily guess from the title, the main topic for today’s blog is ‘Time’. When entering the real world of PR, I quickly realised that Time is a very valuable yet always scarce resource.

During the course of our studies we were often given the opportunity to work on “real-life” clients and provide “real” solutions. However, a very important aspect was missing: Time constraints (It’s true that we did have deadlines for our assessments but these are trivial compared to real-life deadlines).

As an intern, my main issue was to adapt and take in these new skills and understanding of the PR world while at the same time try to keep up with this rapid and demanding world.

Our daily workload has its specific, often short, deadlines which require a quick and almost instinctive decision process. And that is why I believe that work experience plays a crucial role in the PR field - and any other field - ; experienced PR practitioners will have an intuitive feel when working and will automatically know what the task/situation requires.

Interns first have to go through a series of internal mental processes to understand the context and its requirements so as to be able to provide their own inputs. On the other hand, experienced PR practitioners will, through practice/repetition, skip some of these processes and are thus able to put more emphasis on their inputs.

Unfortunately for organisations, it means that most interns are at the learning stage and that the real inputs that they could bring to an organisation only come with time and experience - which alas often comes by the time their internship is over.

So that’s the main thought that I wanted to share today.

Until next time, best of luck for those still doing their internships!!!

...Embarked on a new adventure...

Good morning dear friends

Last week was the start of a new adventure at Investment and Management services (IMS) Ltd.

At the beginning of the week, I was informed that IMS was chosen for the organisation of a residential team building activity for a company that has problems with communication among the employees. Therefore, the aim of the team building was to improve employee relations within the organisation. IMS has to create the whole event from the choice of the venue to the activities that will be undertaken. To my great pleasure, I was notified that I will contribute to the event's organisation. Until now, every formal event that I planned was only for assignment purposes thus, I was excited to participate in the development of such an important event for real.

As it is a residential team building, my role was to contact different hotels to verify availability, ask for the different packages and so forth. Then, I had to eliminate those that did not match our expectations. When I obtained the final list I had to analyse each and every offer and make recommendations on which one correspond best to the company’s expectations and why.

This was enriching as I did not conceive that so much time could be spent on finding an accommodation. In theory, we just mention “to find venue” but in practice it takes much more time as sometimes people do not respond and I had to send several messages for them to react. Moreover, on some occasions I had to explain all over again due to some misunderstandings.

Besides, all through I had to remain professional. Last week i had a quick grasp of the difficulties that a PR practitioner might come across for instance, communication problems, or impassiveness among others.

This experience taught me how to remain professional in circumstances where one could get easily upset. Yet, I know that there are many situations like this to come and I feel ready to face them with more confidence.

So, PR 393 peers I’ll see you soon for a new ride in the PR realm.

The time has arrived for the ship to cast off

Good morning everyone

I am Sandra Thomas from the Charles Telfair Institute, Mauritius. I am doing a Bachelor of commerce in Tourism and Events management and Public Relations and I am in my last semester.

Actually, it has been five days since I started my trip at IMS Ltd. IMS runs several activities for instance, the development of strategies, communication and even aviation. For my part, I am involved in the communication department which deals with the promotion of the organisation as well as the promotion of other companies.

So far, I carried out a lot of research activities to gather information for a newsletter. These information will also contribute to the development of a portfolio on the relevant company.

Moreover, I attended my first meeting. It consisted of activities aimed at identifying our strengths and weaknesses and finding out how employees can contribute effectively to the organisation's success. The next objective was to determine how to become a professional in our domain. For my part, it was to establish the assets that I have to become a successful PR professional and what should be done to achieve this status.

From this meeting, it could be seen that IMS promotes the two-way symmetrical model of communication. Consequently, this could be a good opportunity to analyse the limitations of the model and how far is it beneficial to the organisation.

I was glad to share this experience with you see you next week for a new adventure.

In the meantime, below is the direct link of IMS's website so that you could get a better insight on the company.

http://www.imsmauritius.com/

IMS Ltd

IMS Ltd

Stepping into the world of PR

Salutations to everyone,

My name is Fazar Ria Muneera and I’m in my final year of Mass Communications majoring in Public Relations stream in Curtin University, Miri. I’m currently doing my internship at Fleishman-Hillard, Kuala Lumpur (FHKL) since December 2012 and my I'm finishing very soon. I apologise for delaying my post.

PR Awards trophies won by Fleishman-Hillard Kuala Lumpur shown at the office entrance.

Before I start, let me introduce about FH and its office in Kuala Lumpur. Fleishman-Hillard is a strategic communication firm that was first based in St. Louis then the company grows and now has 80 offices around the globe. FH has expanded its office in Kuala Lumpur on 1999. FH is no stranger in public relations industry and I feel honoured to be given an opportunity to join the company.

My e-mail details given buy FHKL office manager, Shirleen Ooi.

On my first day, I was assigned to do a media monitoring for Volvo Trucks Malaysia. Its exactly like what we’ve done in PR 250 media clipping assignment. The difference is we don’t need to flip through the magazines and dailies that much as we have news and advertising monitoring agency to do it for us. However, we still need to do a cross check in case they left out with some of the news regarding with the company. I learnt something that never been taught in class, every releases has its own PR value which is thrice the advertising value (AD Value). The news that we need to monitor is not only on the company news but we need to monitor the competitor(s) as well as the industry itself. Every morning, I need to send a media monitoring report to respective account holders via e-mail together with the news clipping(s). I noticed that different client has their own preferences on news monitoring report format and we as the PR person of their company need to follow it. Thus, that's explained why PR assignments do not have specific format like other business units.

One of my challenge when doing a media monitoring is to summarise non-English dailies especially Chinese language dailies. Yes, I have to admit that although I speak Malay language at home with my family, I still have a bit of problem (ok, just a bit) translating Malay to English. Google translator is not being helpful but I’m glad I have another intern to help me out with Chinese translation. I guess it would be better for PR practitioner to know more than one language. It would be an advantage that can bring us further. My advice is, learn as much language as you can and embrace your own mother tongue. It's time to read and speak more.

Best of luck!

Regards,
Fazar Ria Muneera Bt. Safree Zainudin
7D5B3504/ 13761196
Semester 1, 2013
Curtin University, Miri Sarawak campus

Hands-on practice in-house

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

After having completed my second week at NEUW I feel that I now have a good understanding of the business. With a more hands-on focus this time, most of this week I prepared and edited their winter ’13 look book. What does that mean, some of you may think? Basically, it's everything from shooting flat-lays of the products to edit the layout in InDesign. I would like to recommend everyone wanting to pursue a career in public relations or marketing to learn InDesign and Photoshop. I’m self-taught, and have found it very useful for uni assignments as well as editorial pieces.

My first two weeks at NEUW confirmed what I already knew: PR involves numerous different types of tasks. It could be anything from research, strategy and layout to conferences, brainstorming meetings and events. PR is not a career where you only deal with one type of people – and that is what I like about the profession.

One of the reasons I wanted to complete my PR internship in-house was simply because I have found it fits my personality better. I have always enjoyed the thought of understanding the company you’re communicating for inside out, and that way being able to using all information to either improve/promote or sustain how the business operates. In-house practice is not for everyone though, and there are definitely positive sides with consultancy. Handling several different accounts across sectors might be the most motivating, but also that you usually specialise within a few areas.

NEUW employs both in-house experts and consultants. In other words - you get the best of two worlds, especially when dealing with consumer relations. Because we are living in a hyper modern fast-paced world, a consumer's mind-set and buying patterns change rapidly. In my opinion, behavioural and attitude change are the two most interesting aspects of communication. Does anyone agree (or disagree) with me? 

On my last day before the Christmas break I presented my own business recommendations to my supervisor. Next step, to begin when I’m back in mid-January, is to execute some of my suggestions. My supervisor initiated this structure, as we knew I was only going to be available for a short amount of time. I have to say it makes me feel important and very much more a part of the staff team than 'just' being an intern. It’s also definitely one of the better ways of learning.

Sara

Goodbye Internship, Hello Employment!

This blog post was done on October 5, 2012.

Havas Worldwide Siren, formerly known as Euro RSCG Siren, holds a special place in my heart. For the past two and a half months, I was surrounded by talented and passionate people who inspire me, encourage me and reaffirm that I am in the right industry and doing what I should be doing with my life. Of course, it was not always smooth sailing (believe me, there were many times when I got reprimanded especially for not meeting deadlines) but what’s an internship without the bumps?

Siren has not only provided me with insights into the working world of PR but I have also taken away many valuable lessons that I will carry with me as I take the next step as a PR Executive. Below is a list of some of the many things I have learned:

A PR practitioner can never do too much research. The cornerstone of any solid PR effort, research helps you to understand your client and the industry it is operating in. This in turn helps the consultancy to develop effective strategies and tactics to meet your clients’ needs.

In my time at Siren, I have done research on various topics from logistics providers to international business schools. (I can tell you the difference between a 3^rd Party Logistics Provider and a 4th Party Logistics Provider but trust me, you would not want to hear me expound on that). I have sourced potential and relevant speakers for a programming competition prize presentation ceremony as well as potential fashion and lifestyle bloggers for various fashion-related events.

Another benefit of working at a consultancy with a diverse range of clients is that you get to work with and gain insights into many different industries. The learning never ends.

I also learned that as an intern, you should always do everything that is thrown at you without grumbling – be it to re-write an article for the umpteenth time or to buy lunch for your colleagues. This learning attitude will help you build the basic nerve for the hard knocks to come at work – and in life.  

Another lesson is that persistence pays. Try and try and try until you succeed – whether it is trying to get hold of an elusive journalist or honing an article until it is perfect. Never say die.

Finally, I learned that PR is simply about building and maintaining relationships. And in walking the talk, I have to learn to build constructive and rewarding relationships with my colleagues and my clients. At Siren, I am fortunate to have warm and wonderful colleagues who welcomed me with open arms from day one. They have guided me, taught me, encouraged me and many of them have become my friends. These are people with whom I hope to keep in contact for the rest of my life.

I am thankful to Curtin University and the Public Relations (Professional Practice) 393 team for giving me this opportunity to complete an internship and see for myself, firsthand the ‘real’ situation working in a consultancy.

I am pleased to let my readers know that this internship has led to an offer of full time employment as a PR Executive with Havas Worldwide Siren.

Goodbye internship, hello world!

Li Xian Seow

15135214

Curtin Singapore