End of internship

This week marks the end of my internship program. My internship mainly revolves around making a research study on the feasibility of UPS adopting social media as a means to communicate with their target customers, who are mainly SMEs.

The final presentation to the management of my internship organization has been successful, with positive feedback on the recommendations that I have shared. With that, I feel satisfied that I have reciprocated with my hard work, given the opportunity and support that they have given me thus far.

It has been a great experience thus far, as I have made myself step out of my comfort zone, to intern in an industry that is foreign to me, something that I have never dreamt of stepping into in my last four years of work in an FMCG industry. I have since have a deeper understanding of the logistics and supply chain industry, amazed by the complex procedures that goes on to make a delivery to a faraway country happen overnight!

I have also have a deeper understanding of social media as a whole, no longer restricted to just the primary features of Facebook and YouTube, when we consumers are just interested in learning what our friends are up to. The power of these social media sites are amazing, with recommendations and word-of-mouth generated from users of these sites being the most trusted source of information to consumers. With the emergence of Internet as a crucial source of information, we can expect to see more organizations using social media to reach out to their target audiences in the near future. PR professionals should thus embrace this as the next big media channel to look out for!

Overall, I’m glad that this internship experience has taught me some new practical skills that we may not be able to learn in class. Adaptability and accountability were the key skills that I will take away with from this experience, as it forces me to adapt to a new industry fast, research and make recommendations for my real-life ‘client’; as well as being accountable as my personal and Curtin’s reputation is at stake. Thank you Curtin and UPS for the wonderful learning experience!