Sunday, September 14, 2014

Half way from the start; half way to the end.


Ahhh, half way there. At some points during my working day it feels like I have just started. At other points it feels like I have been an intern for the better part of a year.

On Friday, as I pulled my car out of the West Perth office of Devahasdin, it hit me that I was officially half way through my internship.

I had done ten days taking screenshots of media clips, pitching stories to the media, drafting media releases, doing coffee runs, entering data and learning the strict formatting guidelines of the public relations agency I was working for. 


I had got to know how the girls in the office liked their client’s clipping reports formatted. I knew how to email “in style” with the agency. I knew how they all liked their coffees – one soy flat white, one long black in a large cup, two skinny cappuccinos (one with one sugar) and a skinny flat white with an extra shot. I knew how to answer the phone with confidence. I learnt how to use a Mac computer.

As I was a third year commerce major, there was a lot of knowledge that I had before I started my first internship day. What I have learnt most is the way in which Devahasdin does things. I could write a media release ten days ago – now I can write a Devahasdin formatted media release. I could build a database ten days ago – now I know how to format it for Devahasdin clients and handy shortcuts to build it more effectively.

I have learnt that it is all amount the confidence. It is about asking questions and welcoming feedback. Communication is the essence of our degree, something which is required between us and our publics but also us and the people that we work with.


Lauren Roberts

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