My last post..

Hi Everyone,

I have decided to write my last post now, as I am looking at handing in my report a few days early.

What an incredible experience my placement journey has been. I have learnt so much, I am grateful for the chance to apply the skills that I have learnt over the course of my uni degree.
I have been working as an intern at Telethon Speech & Hearing (TSH). I have learnt so much about how PR works in a not-for-profit organisation. And I have been able to work alongside a great team who have given me wonderful insights into the PR industry.

As my placement journey has come to an end, I am grateful for my time at TSH. As things draw to close I am excited about what the future holds after graduation. My mind has begun more and more to turn to thoughts of what life after university will be like. I, as I am sure many of you, have been applying for some of the myriad of graduate opportunities available out there at present. Not only that but I have been applying to every job that sparks my interest on Seek and in the paper- for life after graduation. I must admit I kind of thought that it would be a bit easier. That may sound a bit naive, but, I have sent off what seems like 100's upon 100's of applications and my responses so far have been less than favourable. At first I was a little disheartened and questioned whether I was on the right track. I thought given my education and experience that I would have been a worthy candidate for many that I have applied for. One thing that I am realising is there is a plethora of graduates and only so many jobs to go around...so I picked myself up and then the most obvious thing in the world hit me- its not what you know but, who you know!

In my research efforts to land myself the perfect career I stumbled across this website called 'Careerealism', check them out at www.careerealism.com
They've got heaps of handy tips on how to stand out from the rest of the crowd, plus advice on resumes, interviews and cover letters. Not only that but it has articles on how your own personal branding and using social media to land a career.

There has been a lot of talk about social media on the PR 393 blog to date. So we know that we can use it to grow companies/organisations and use it to directly target our publics. But how we use social media also has a direct correlation on our own personal brand. This personal brand that we are developing as emerging graduates will be increasingly important as we make our first tentative steps into the workforce.

Here's a couple of articles that I found on Careerealism that discussed the importance of personal branding. The first chats about what a personal brand is and how you develop it; the second talks about the importance of managing your personal brand.

http://www.careerealism.com/personal-brand/

http://www.careerealism.com/4-tools-managing-online-brand/

Throughout my time at Telethon Speech & Hearing, one of the most valuable things that became even more evident was the importance of building strong working relationships. And as I stated before it's not about what you know, but who you know. I have been able to forge the beginnings of professional relationships with team members, clients and media throughout my at TSH.

I have begun to understand how these connections and connections I already have could be very useful in my life after graduation. Theres a site called Linkedin which many of you have probably heard of. And up until recently I dont think I fully understood its true value and worth. I never fully grasped how it could work for me- I always thought it was some kind of professional version of facebook- and it is to an extent, but assists you to be way more productive and can create wonderful opportunities based on connections.

Check out this link for more information on how to use Linkedin to promote yourself and potentially land the job you want:
http://www.careerealism.com/linkedin-promote-personal-brand/

I also found this video which illustrates how Linkedin works, it gave me some great ideas for when I get back to searching for my dream job after graduation. Hope it does the same for you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzT3JVUGUzM




So, even though I am nervous, excited, scared and unsure all rolled into one about my next steps into the big real world. What I do know is that because of my placement experience at Telethon Speech & Hearing, I am confident in my abilities as a Public Relations practitioner, further than that, as a person. I know that I will make a valuable asset to the organisation that I end up working for.

I wish everyone the best of luck with the final weeks of the unit.
And beyond that, the very best success in life after university!

-Alyce