Well after 10 weeks of early morning wake up calls to travel to the city for my work experience, it has finally come to an end. Its has definately been a learning experience as it has taught me what I want and don't want in the PR profession. It may not have been an exciting placement, as the organisation was an association management company, therefore had limited PR activites, besides the event management department which organised events for 24 associations. Unfortunately due to miscomunication with staff and their lack of knowledge of the role of PR in the workplace, my duties were pretty much restricted to the office, writing MANY media releases.
Anyhow, I am in the process of writing up my report and my supervisors are actually keen to see what I have recommended, I just hope I don't offend anyone with the amount of recommendations! One good thing that has come out of my placement is the networking opportunities I have been exposed to. I have been asked to apply for a position as a cadet journalist for a government publication (as my major's are PR/Journalism) so I will consider it as it is also a good opportunity to refine my writting skills, however I am still keen to work in PR. My employer has also offered to pay my membership to the PRIA as a thankyou, so I am extremely grateful for that as this will help in developing contacts in the PR industry. I hope everyone has enjoyed their placements and have taken both positive and negative aspects of their work experience and applied them as a learning curve in the development of becoming a PR professional! I highly recommend PR393 as it gives the practical experience that no textbook can teach and provides students the opportunity to use what they have learnt in a corporate environment. I may not have had a successful placement, in terms of challenging activities, but that has not stopped me in pursuing PR, as I am more keen than ever to find out more about the industry!
Kylie
4 comments:
Don't worry Kylie about writing the recommendations of the report. I also faced the similar problem as you for writing the recommendations. Katharina had advised that as long as we don't write anything bad about our work placements or the people we work with in the placement, everything will be fine.
Wow, that's an awesome job offer you got there. More meeting new people experience. Although some work placements for PR 393 weren't exciting or fun, it is the work experiences we obtained that made the difference at the end of the day. Yup, more work experiences meant more valuable relevant job skills for CV writings.
Yup, I had to give all my thanks to PR 393. If it weren't for this unit, I would never had gain a very good and valuable work experience for CV and resume writings. Sometimes it is hard to understand that these days getting good paid jobs is all about presenting pretty CVs with all the relevant work experiences. And, different types of organisations worked differently.
As for my work placement, there are some tasks that I had to observe to master myself. For example, I was taught how to use the photocopy machine but not taught completely how to know how to use it completely. Furthermore, I had to observe or ask for assistance when appropriate to know how to use it completely.
Kylie, you are in the bright track to success for your chosen future career. You'll make your chosen career dream come true and it'll happen. I had full faith in that.
I am with you in saying that PR 393 has opened my eyes in terms of what I want and don't want in PR.
Congratulations on getting the journalist cadetship. My writing skills is one of the things I am aiming to improve on also. I'm sure you can understand that with all those media releases you had to write. With all those recommendations for your company, I'm sure you will nail the report.
Actually, Christie-Ann, that’s not what I said. I have advised students not to panic about the recommendations section. What you will find is that many placement organsiations are actually very grateful for the feedback you are giving them. You have joined them with a fresh pair of eyes and might see things that they don’t even notice anymore. Also, you are just finishing a degree in PR, which means that you might have more up to a date knowledge of the industry and the latest techniques than some supervisors might have. What I am asking you to do is to be professional! Keep in mind that your supervisor will read the final version of your report. This does not mean that you have to censor the content- but that you have to be careful about how you write things and how you justify your suggestions. This is a crucial point: You need a rationale for your recommendations. Don’t just recommend things for the sake of it – back it up with research, PR theory and observations. Bring in examples from other organsiations. Be a professional! Think about how you can best convince your supervisor that your recommendations are valid and appropriate.
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