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| (Photo from Go Communications LinkedIn) |
The staff at the office were very welcoming and quickly helped us settle into our new roles! I remember that first day, nervously walking into the office, only to be met by the kindest smiles and greetings all around the room. They even took us out for drinks after work on our first day (Mind you, it was a public holiday the next day).
I had the honour of enjoying this amazing opportunity with two fellow Curtin PR Students, whom I was able to build great friendships with (another bonus)!
Coming into the internship, I wasn't really sure what the next 4 weeks at Go Communications would entail. I've always felt unsure of what the day-to-day tasks of a PR Professional included. Yes, the past three years at University taught me things like writing media releases, event plans and PR plans, but honestly, I was still confused on how to apply these skills in the workplace! Would I walk in everyday and get handed a media release to write? Was the structure the same as what I was taught? and how long did I have to write one?... The answers to these questions, and many more, became clearer throughout my journey at Go Communications.
In my first week, I observed the workplace culture at Go Communications and how different this was to Australia. Firstly, the working hours were 9 am to 6 pm, as opposed to 9 -5 in Australia. We also worked in groups ('Elite' was the name of my group), and each group was assigned different clients to manage (some of my group's clients included Ricoh Malaysia, Tourism Victoria and Nippon Paint). Another important distinction was that Go Communications operated around 3 different languages; English, Malay and Chinese. Media monitoring therefore revolved around coverage done in all 3 languages (this meant more work, but Challenge accepted)!
By the end of my first week at Go Communication, I'd already begun to feel like a true PR Professional, despite the fact that I hadn't written one media release yet! I learned that there was more to PR than just writing media releases everyday.
To find out more about my PR Internship adventure in Malaysia, stay tuned for my next blog.
Thank you for your time.
Naomi James
Curtin University, Bentley.
3 comments:
Hi Naomi
It was so great to read your post and see that you felt all the same things that I did when I first began my internship! I was also so worried I would get there and not know how to do anything, or how to apply my skills from university. However after the first few days you really do settle in and realise you know more than you thought!
Good luck with the rest of your internship, it sounds like a great opportunity to not only get PR experience, but also to experience another culture!
Samantha
Hi Naomi,
As Samantha commented above, I did feel the same way as you both on my first day at work. I also had the chance to work with a fantastic team of two people from the Marketing & Communication Department I was interning in. I've finished my internship two weeks ago, and i can tell you that by the end of yours you're going to learn much more than you believe you would!
I wish I could have done an internship abroad so as to discover other workplace cultures, so I guess lucky you!
Well I can only say, make the most of it and enjoy yourself.
Elizabeth
It was an unforgettable experience. Thank you Sam and Elizabeth, I hope you both also enjoy the rest of your work experience.
Naomi:)
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