'Educational' Experience

Five days down! My first week working with Corporate Communications and Marketing at the Department of Education has been an eye-opening and gratifying experience! I was incredibly nervous on my first day and particularly worried that I would not be prepared for this internship. Public relations is every little thing I thought it would be, and nothing I expected all at once!

Many brief introductions were made, and my nervous, overwhelmed brain was struggling to remember names. I made a mental note to write them down as soon as I could. Writing absolutely everything down was the best advice I was given! Everyone in the open-plan office was so warm and welcoming and I was pleasantly surprised at how well I slotted in. After only one week it feels as though I have been working here for six months!

I essentially have one main supervisor and a multitude of mini-supervisors in both the Media Relations and PR/Marketing units. There are around 15 people, unsurprisingly two men to 13 women, working in Corporate Communications and Marketing. I cannot stress enough how great it is working with these men! Aside from breaking up the all-female dynamic and offering different points of view, they are brilliant and hilarious!

I was given a brief overview of the Department of Education and the daily duties the teams carry out. I never knew just how integral the PR function is within the government sector! Within the hour I was given news stories to write for the Department website and had liaised between journalists from local papers and school principals to organise interviews. One of the interviews I organised was published in the Albany Advertiser. I was a little unsure of my abilities to begin with, and by a little I mean a lot, but in no time I felt incredibly comfortable and confident. My journalism major has been of immense benefit in this position and I am so pleased that I’ve chosen to do public relations and journalism, as the two complement each other implicitly. Liaising with journalists is a large portion of the employee’s workload, and knowing the ins and outs of the industry is particularly beneficial!

For the first week I have been writing news stories for the Department of Education website, almost daily. This involved finding newsworthy stories on student achievements or events and contacting schools, principals and students for content and photos. There was a lengthy process in getting my news articles edited, but I was pleased the changes my supervisors made were minor and they were impressed with my writing abilities. Three of my articles have been published; two more are ready to be published, and I have another few in the woodworks, which is quite exciting! Feel free to check them out - story one, story two, and story three. I jump at even the most mundane of tasks, and I think my supervisors are surprised I am so enthusiastic about making edits and grabbing coffees! Okay, the coffee was a one-time thing, but so quintessentially 'intern' that I had to mention it.

Early in the week I sat in on a meeting with the Media Team and they discussed their social media tactics and how to best utilise Twitter. It was encouraging to see the social media lessons we are given as public relations students are relevant and applicable. As a ‘tech-savvy’ student, my supervisors really valued my opinion on the matter and I was able to provide substantial input.

In true pessimistic-style, I was doubting that I would enjoy my internship but it’s been an incredible week and I’ve surprised myself with how capable I am in the corporate setting. Public relations has always been secondary to journalism for me, but this internship is so practical and interesting that I’m learning PR may just be my calling. Hands-down my favourite PR unit already! Cannot wait for the next few weeks to come! Soak it all up fellow interns!