Hello everyone!
I’m Debbie Goh from Curtin University in Bentley, WA. This is the first week of my part-time internship at Identitywa, a not-for-profit organisation. While I have worked at Identitywa as a volunteer in 2012, I decided to work as an intern this semester to focus on the public relations aspect of the organisation.
Before anything else, let me briefly explain what Identitywa is all about. Identitywa is a not-for-profit organisation that provides support and services for people with disability. The organisation began in 1977 and is one of Western Australia’s leading agencies in this area. Their services mainly focus on supporting the needs of their clients in terms of future planning, finding a home and work alternative. However, Identitywa also makes it a point to attend to the desires of their clients, such as areas in seeking friends and community connections, developing skills for life, and family well-being.
Identitywa’s Communications Manager, Ms Tania Clarke provided me with some materials to have an idea about the organisation, and raised a few tasks that needed attention. The tasks for the week included drafting a few media releases and managing social media content. The organisation is currently implementing a new Strategic Plan from 2013 to 2016, and the public relations and communication area of this plan will have to be on the ball at all times. So, this is great timing for an opportunity to expand my learning horizons in terms of public relations work.
Before I began my placement, I realised two things that I needed to attend to in order to make the most of this opportunity. Firstly, I needed to dispel the I-am-only-a-student mentality. If I want to be ready for work, I have to be mentally ready as well. Secondly, in order to maximise my learning curve with the opportunity of a placement, I had to maximise my abilities as an intern in this organisation. By being capable of completing various tasks, I will be able to learn more, and thus gain more experience. But I was unsure of how I could be as capable as I intended to be. However, I found out the answer to that pretty quickly during my first week.
During the first week of my placement, I had quite a bit of time on my hands, so I felt that the extra time could be used to develop something bigger for the company. So I used that time to get to know the organisation a little more, in hopes that I will be able to provide some kind of input that will be useful in future. The research gave me insight to draft media releases while keeping in mind the organisation’s values, vision and mission. This helped me identify the purpose of the media release. I also came to know about ethics, codes and conventions when drafting media releases related to intellectual disability. I could go on forever about the benefits of research and how is so important, especially in the beginning, but I will summarise it to:
Overall, a thorough research in the beginning enables one to be contribute valuable and quality input for the organisation.
My manager was pleased with what I've come up with, which I found encouraging for me to keep giving my best. Before I began my work, my father told me to give my best wherever and for whoever I am working for. He told me, "if you are earning $1, make sure you put in a $3 effort!"
In this week alone, I learnt about the organisation and the importance of knowing the organisation/company I am working for. In the next few months, I can only imagine how much more I can learn. I'm really looking forward to the next few months of my placement!
I hope you all enjoyed reading my post. Stay tuned for my next post!
Regards,
Debbie Goh
15007119
Curtin Bentley
I’m Debbie Goh from Curtin University in Bentley, WA. This is the first week of my part-time internship at Identitywa, a not-for-profit organisation. While I have worked at Identitywa as a volunteer in 2012, I decided to work as an intern this semester to focus on the public relations aspect of the organisation.
Before anything else, let me briefly explain what Identitywa is all about. Identitywa is a not-for-profit organisation that provides support and services for people with disability. The organisation began in 1977 and is one of Western Australia’s leading agencies in this area. Their services mainly focus on supporting the needs of their clients in terms of future planning, finding a home and work alternative. However, Identitywa also makes it a point to attend to the desires of their clients, such as areas in seeking friends and community connections, developing skills for life, and family well-being.
Identitywa’s Communications Manager, Ms Tania Clarke provided me with some materials to have an idea about the organisation, and raised a few tasks that needed attention. The tasks for the week included drafting a few media releases and managing social media content. The organisation is currently implementing a new Strategic Plan from 2013 to 2016, and the public relations and communication area of this plan will have to be on the ball at all times. So, this is great timing for an opportunity to expand my learning horizons in terms of public relations work.
Before I began my placement, I realised two things that I needed to attend to in order to make the most of this opportunity. Firstly, I needed to dispel the I-am-only-a-student mentality. If I want to be ready for work, I have to be mentally ready as well. Secondly, in order to maximise my learning curve with the opportunity of a placement, I had to maximise my abilities as an intern in this organisation. By being capable of completing various tasks, I will be able to learn more, and thus gain more experience. But I was unsure of how I could be as capable as I intended to be. However, I found out the answer to that pretty quickly during my first week.
During the first week of my placement, I had quite a bit of time on my hands, so I felt that the extra time could be used to develop something bigger for the company. So I used that time to get to know the organisation a little more, in hopes that I will be able to provide some kind of input that will be useful in future. The research gave me insight to draft media releases while keeping in mind the organisation’s values, vision and mission. This helped me identify the purpose of the media release. I also came to know about ethics, codes and conventions when drafting media releases related to intellectual disability. I could go on forever about the benefits of research and how is so important, especially in the beginning, but I will summarise it to:
- you understand the organisation better, and therefore you will be in sync with their values, vision and mission
- you will be able to work with increased efficiency
- reduced risk of making mistakes related to areas such as ethics, codes and conventions
Overall, a thorough research in the beginning enables one to be contribute valuable and quality input for the organisation.
My manager was pleased with what I've come up with, which I found encouraging for me to keep giving my best. Before I began my work, my father told me to give my best wherever and for whoever I am working for. He told me, "if you are earning $1, make sure you put in a $3 effort!"
In this week alone, I learnt about the organisation and the importance of knowing the organisation/company I am working for. In the next few months, I can only imagine how much more I can learn. I'm really looking forward to the next few months of my placement!
I hope you all enjoyed reading my post. Stay tuned for my next post!
Regards,
Debbie Goh
15007119
Curtin Bentley
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