Hola fellow students!
My name is Katie. I have completed only three days of my placement thus far and thought now was an appropriate time to post on the blog. The main reason for this is that I now realise with all the good comes the dwindling bad.
Firstly, I am a very stubborn and creative person. Finding a placement shouldn't have been such an issue for me because I started searching well before this semester began, yet I only started placement 3 days ago. The reason for the delay was the "unrealistic pursuit" of opportunity and failure to accept failure. I want to work in the music, entertainment and arts line of the industry more than anything so I kept calling and calling and harrassing and heckling a man about working for his booking agency to write media releases. Unfortunately, he was slow on the uptake and I was unrealistic about the time I had to complete placement. Now I am doing placement four days a week to make up for lost time.
Pearl of wisdom one: Make sure you accept when the war is lost. There is always somebody who wants you - just keep searching.
Secondly, after successfully getting in contact with a certain contact they offered me a placement opportunity. However, with good comes bad... I was to work from home, outside the office environment writing media releases. I had to turn down this placement on principle. Why? Even though I understand this area of industry is constantly bussling and sleeps for no (wo)man I would be out of the office environment (something this unit helps us get amongst) and I did not want my releases unchecked, perhaps compromising the integrity of the business. I believe this would be unethical for me and perhaps unethical for the business to rely on someone with minimal experience.
Pearl two: Make your placement count. Keep true.
So now I am working at UWA Sports with the Head of Marketing. They don't actually have any concrete PR in place, except for the odd media release and this is where I come in.
The past three days have been a bit of a boring blur and I have spent every day compiling a media contacts database. This will form the backbone of who to send press releases to and who to talk to. All this research has made me realise what it is like setting up a business from scratch and the effort you must put into networking for success. I realise now more than ever that PR is really all about humans and human activity and communication.
Pearl three: Perseverence and adaptation. Get used to your workspace and stay open-minded. Earn the trust of your employer.
My hopes are high for this week coming. I will hopefully have the chance to write some releases and get an awesome facebook page up and running (GOOOOOOOOO FACEBOOK!!). After all, I am very in-the-loop with social media and my generation Y knowledge of how it all works. Australian University Games is being hosted by UWA this year so hopefully there is some event organisation and management experience on the horizon.
Remember enthusiasm counts a lot more than you think if you just try. I hope my posts become a little less morose by the end for everyone's sakes.
Will be in communicado soon, after all, I'm a professional!
5 comments:
Hey Katie,
I too want to work in the music industry so I know how hard it is trying to find a placement in it, let alone in Perth.
I'm glad you finally found a placement even if it isn't exactly what you want to do. Just think of the experience... and your grade.
I hope your time there improves.
Hi Katie,
Your determination is truly admirable! Keep your hopes up, I am very sure that will see you to the end of your goals.
Someone told me once that a person's experience is what he/she choose to make out of the situation. I am leaving you with this quote as an encouragement that you can make a difference at your work place. With your drive, I have no doubt that you will. :)
Have a good internship!!
Hey Katie,
My first days on my placement was also compiling media databases and addresses of invitees. So I definitely know what you're going through.
In fact, on my first hour on the job, I had to start 'cold calling'. Obviously, I didn't manage to persuade anyone to say 'yes' to my event.
Your blog post reassured me that I'm not alone in facing the new challenges of internship.
I can tell you that your days will only get better from here on end. :)
Have fun at your placement!
Wow - I'm impressed by your determination! Good luck with the rest of your placement Katie, am looking forward to hearing how you go and especially what kind of work you do with the Uni Games, should be some good PR opportunities!
I feel like maybe I should comment someone else's blog post now that I see you've had many responses to yours - I feel a little bad not sharing around the love to other bloggers! But, I just finished my placement at the Art Gallery of WA and since you said you were interested in the music/arts line of work, I thought I'd let you know that, while it was an interesting environemnt to be in, after reading other posts I think we all tend to be working on similar tasks, despite the environment. Everyone seems to have written a media release, had to contact the media or make a contact list, help organise some sort of event etc. So hopefully, even though you're not where you wanted to be, you'll still have a good experience and learn something!
I also really appreciate the fact that you turned down an opportunity to really get the best out of your placement. I was offered the choice to complete some of my days at home, but it seems useless to work from home when there was a perfectly good (albiet 20 minute train ride) office space I could be absorbed in.
With the contact - one word of advice, make sure you physically call each contact to double check their name and if they're the correct person you're after. I spoke to a few receptionists who told me the wrong name (one of them had retired) and ended up sending off a media release addressed to the wrong person - embarrassing!
Anyway, hope you enjoy your time at UWA :)
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