I hope your intern journeys have all been filled with learning, enjoyment and excitement. My placement is within quite a sized consultancy with in-house web and graphic design departments. As far as the extent of my tasks go, I feel I am not getting my fair share but then again what do we class as fair? I understand and now accept that doing work experience in an organisation which deals with huge multinational clients including Vodafone, Rio Tinto, Alcoa and the like, the level of trust for a student to complete tasks is very low to avoid risk of great costs.
Everything I do the Director lets me know that he will never consider using, so basically it will go straight in the bin. With the relationships at stake I can respect that, but I just wish that he didn't tell me that every time I do something. I think knowing this fact really has affected my produce and I don't feel at all like they have seen anywhere near the best of me. I can feel myself not really trying 100%. What do you guys think? Do you reckon this would affect how much you give it? Maybe its just my personality trait, but I would like to feel a bit more a part of the company.... or at least feel like I am making some form of contribution.
I am in my second last week of experience and I am searching for more... I want more and I also feel that I definitely need more to gain the confidence in what I do.
Some feedback would be great guys, hope you are all fabulous!
:)
6 comments:
Can definitely see why you may not be giving it 100% especially when your boss tells you that any work you're doing is essentially pointless! However, while wanting to actively contribute to a company is desirable, remember that you're also there to gain experience. Whether or not your work is being used is really quite trivial. As long as the work is pertinent to PR and "could" be used (perhaps under different circumstances), then this still forms a valuable part of your learning experience.
On a related note I think that the size of the company you place with does provide vastly different experiences. Smaller organisations tend to provide a more holistic encompassing experience, while larger organisations can better provide an idea of a working culture. Both have their advantages and I think that in making the decision of where you want to go you should consider where you see yourself working after university; if it's a big company then go the big company and vice versa for the small.
Good luck!
It is really sad to see that you feel like this about your placement. I don’t think that you should take it to heart that they are not using your work. I suggest that you should keep a copy of the work you have submitted to your supervisor and have Katharina comment on it and see what advice she can offer you. I am sure you have produced some good work but it may not be up to his standard but he must remember that you are only work experience and you want to learn from him.
Perhaps you should look into gaining more work experience from another organisation before the semester is over. They may be able to offer you a better inside into the world of PR and give you a more diverse range of duties.
I hope the rest of your placement gets better. I do think you should take your work to Katharina though so she can provide some feedback. I am sure it is not as bad as your supervisor has made it out to be.
Best of luck,
Sarah
I can also see why you think what your doing is pointless. Do you get feedback from what you do actually complete? Even though it will not be used, you can compare what they actually use to what you came up with and see the differences. It is a steep learning curve.
I sometimes feel I am being babysitted by my supervisor but at the same time, I absorb anything I do. Learning something theoretically and actually putting pen to paper is totally different. It took me quite awhile to adjust to the style of writing I am required to do and each organisation is different.
I know being motivated is hard when you know already it isn't being used but still try to do your best and make sure you receive feedback. After all you are there to learn.
Goodluck! I hope you find some kind of motivation!
Cheers
Dan
A big thank you to everyone for your feedback and support!
Tanya, I am quite concerned about your comments. When I heard from you last time about 10 days ago, it all sounded very positive. I remember you mentioning that you got praised for your ‘above expectations’ research skills and the invaluable insight you were gaining. Even though your placement is coming to an end, I strongly recommend you seek out a face to face meeting with your supervisor to discuss your concerns. A number of students have completed their placement in this consultancy and this is the first time I heard about the ‘bin comment’. I can obviously understand how demotivating this must be for you. I hope this was some form of miscommunication – otherwise, I will have to follow up to make sure that future students won’t be in a similar situation.
However, talking about meaningful projects to work on: this really is a problem with those half day arrangements. I know that you have very valid reasons, however, I strongly advice other students reading this blog to keep this in mind when they arrange their placement.
Please let me know how the meeting goes.
There are always going to be up days and down days. As has been mentioned, we can't always be given responsibilities because it could cost the organisation.
The things I get given to do aren't the most complicated or 'responsible' jobs but I do hear a lot about what is going on, what my supervisors and PR team members are working on etc. Often the things we just talk about or watch being done are helpful as well.
Keep us updated on how everything works out!
Talk to your supervisor and most importantly keep asking for things to do. They can't always be running after you :)
Good luck
AdRiana
I need and want more, I share that idea , my internship has been wonderful. I just can not imagine how to get back to uni and not missing the work and the people over there. I do not know if you all had such a great time at work but working as a PR officer is great.
Whoever created that job is someone great.
LONG LIVE the profession of PUBLIC RELATION
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