The Ins and Outs of working in an office

Hi everyone! My second blog post comments on how different it is working in an office compared to working in a casual customer service job.

This internship was my first experience working in an office.

I have spent the last 7 years working as a casual employee in the hospitality industry. I have worked at a number of cafes, restaurants and bars to fund my way through school and university. Whilst I have gained a lot of skills in customer service, function management and can definitely say I am very good at remembering people’s orders, I was introduced to a very different type of work when I began my internship.

I currently work part time at my local pub as a casual employee, usually doing about 20 hours per work. Whilst I am at work I am constantly being supervised and kept to a very strict timeframe; I must start at this time and cannot leave until this time.

When I came to the internship, I was very surprised at the amount of freedom you have. Before starting I assumed I would be under strict time constraints to have my work completed by, and envisioned being constantly schooled and checked up on by the boss. But I wasn’t. It was as if they just trusted me to get the work done…

For example, you are pretty much free to begin and end your day as you please. Some employees choose to start at 7.30am and leave by 4.30pm, others may start at 9.00am. At the end of my first day I was very unsure of what the protocol was to leave. At 4.45pm I looked around and noticed majority of the staff were no longer in the office. I went to find my supervisor to ask when I should leave as I had finished my work for the day, but was told she’d already left. Apparently I was fine to just leave when I wanted. I was very surprised at this level of freedom. I was able to go on lunch when I wanted to, and I was able to leave to get coffee whenever I wanted to- a major plus for me.

One important note I learnt after my first day was do not wear heels! I got a bad case of blisters and struggled to walk around for the rest of the week.   

Overall, I have really enjoyed working in an office and the perks you get with it. It is very different to customer service and hospitality, but I am done with that chapter of my life and very much ready to start my new chapter in the corporate world!

The office has a very open floor plan, which allows for easy interaction between the different departments.

Finding Your Bearings

With only a day left of my internship with Cannings Purple, I thought that I would reflect on finding my bearings and sharing some tips that have helped me along the way.

I have been reading other students' posts and have realised that no matter the stage of your internship, we all experience the same sort of feelings. The feeling of not being sure if what you're doing is right, or how often you should ask for work, and even feeling uncertain whether you should pursue a career in PR or not. These feelings of uncertainty are normal, I have come to realise, and I hope that this post would make other interns feel better in one way or another.

Here are a few tips that I have gathered over the last few weeks:

Be Confident!
This is a little cliche, but important nonetheless. You can be the most confident person in the world and still feel intimidated by your experienced colleagues and supervisors. This is my third internship, so I am not that new to the interning game. It still took me a long time to feel comfortable and find my bearings at Cannings Purple, and on my second last day, I am still a little awkward around certain people.

You just need to remember that you are there for a reason - they are letting you intern with them because they see potential in you, and if they are giving you important tasks, it means that you are doing your job well!

Humility is an important trait, but so is knowing that you actually are good at what you're doing. Giving yourself a pat on the back (literally or metaphorically - you choose) helps from time to time.

It Might Not Be What You Expected But...
It is still a learning experience. I thought I would be doing a lot more strategy-based tasks, or at least listening in on them, and slowly learning how PR plans come about. This didn't happen, and it was perhaps a little naive of me to think that it would - I have nothing to bring to the strategic table. I have spent most of my internship writing social media posts, blogs, articles, and researching things. I have
also ventured out into the more design/digital aspect of PR, which was also unexpected.

 Treat everything you do a lesson. Even if you technically didn't learn anything new. If you have written something and it is perfect then you have learned just that - you are a great writer.
If you mess up and get a lot of feedback on a written piece, then you will learn from your mistakes.

Be grateful for every little lesson you learn, as that is what internships are for. Don't freak out if you're doing things you didn't think you would do. It's all part of the learning (and interning) process, and it is all part of the bigger picture.

It's Okay to Ask for More Work 
I learned this early on. I have always been a fast learner and a quick worker, and this has remained consistent throughout my internship. I finish tasks much quicker than expected, and I do them well (a self inflicted pat on the back!). For the first few weeks, I hated asking for more work, especially because I felt a little awkward interacting with consultants in general, as I am a newbie PR student and they are experienced and smart and successful. Going up to someone's desk whilst they are deep in their work isn't fun. You feel like a nuisance. You disrupt their work, and then they have to snap out of what they were doing and think of what else they can give you.

In my first few weeks I had a casual talk with one of the younger consultants and I raised my concern over finishing work quickly. She said that it's better to be annoying and seem eager than take ages doing a task that shouldn't take that long. She said that it shows that you are good at what you are doing and can be trusted to do a lot more. Needless to say, this made me feel a lot better.

At the end of the day, you are working there for free, and in return you are getting invaluable professional experience and making all the right contacts. If you are good at what you are doing, then you are benefiting your internship place in more ways than you know. Once your supervisor is confident in your work, they are confident to give you meatier stuff that takes longer to complete.

I think the main point I am trying to raise here is that all of these things take time. It takes time to feel confident and comfortable in a new environment. It takes time to come out of  your shell. It takes time to realise that yes, PR is a great industry, and that you cannot wait to graduate and get stuck into your career.

Until next time,

Stav.

Useful Lessons

Hi team!

For today's post, I thought that I would share some useful lessons that I have learned throughout my internship from my colleagues.

Almost every morning, in the daily catch up meeting, a different consultant shares some insights that may prove to be useful or interesting for the rest of the team. These presentations are one of my favourite aspects of my internship thus far, as I am keen to learn as much as I possibly can.

An interesting talk was from one of the digital consultants on SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation. This basically means that you make your website optimisable for search engines such as Google, which means it will rank higher in the search results. There were many points covered, but a good tip was to check out a website called MOZ, which has helpful blogs on SEO. The diagram below illustrates the elements of an optimised page and may be useful to some of you.

Another useful talk was by my supervisor about a collaborative website called Trello. I was introduced to Trello by her previously, and think it is a fabulous website. I would recommend you guys check it out! It is similar to Google Docs in its purpose, but it is much better in terms of visually presenting information and giving you a better idea of what everyone in the project is getting up to. It is definitely a website I will use in the future. 

Lastly, I was given a few social media monitoring websites to check out. These present information differently and are useful in their own way. I enjoyed having a bit of a play with them and will take this on with me for my own part time job, where I am a PR and marketing assistant for an online business. These are highly useful for any organisation with an online presence and are great for scanning the environment. Check out the following websites: 

• Keyhole 
• Hashtagify 
• Sprout Social
• Google Trends
• Ctrlq 

I hope you guys find these as useful as I have. I am always wanting to expand my knowledge and gain as much as I can from each experience, and treat it as a lesson. 

Until next time,

Stav. 

A Learning Curve

Hi everyone! I hope those who have started their internships are enjoying it thus far.

The last two weeks of my internship at Cannings Purple have proven to be a learning curve. I have mostly been working on tasks for the client I mentioned in my first post - a property developer who wants to promote living in West Leederville. These have mostly been writing little blogs about cool places to go which includes lots of research on West Leederville and the surrounding suburbs. I have enjoyed writing these and I have been periodically checking the client's Facebook page - they have posted a few of the social media images I did up on Photoshop, which is exciting!

Another task I enjoyed was undertaken when I was working with my other supervisor. Her client is an oil and gas company which is trying to engage with the local community so that they are made aware of their operations. They will be holding an open day which will be really informative. My supervisor wanted me to look into ways to make it more fun and engaging, so that it is approachable for all members of the community rather than just those who really care about oil and gas operations. I was a little bit intimidated by this task at first, as it was very vague. My supervisor wanted me to be creative and look up best practice for making open days/informational conferences engaging. I drew on my last internship, which was at the Conservation Council of WA. My main project for that internship was Spring Eco Fest - a festival which promotes, educates, and encourages people to live a more sustainable life. Drawing inspiration from that was really helpful, as I came up with the following suggestions for the client's open day:

• Get local wildlife park to bring in some of the local wildlife which would be interactive and engaging for both adults and kids.This would also be great for optics - to show that the client cares about the environment and local wildlife
• Personally invite the local Indigenous community to attend the open day – shows inclusion and cooperation. It may also be a good idea to get some sort of talk/engaging activity from an Indigenous person showcasing their culture 
• A free sausage sizzle - people love free food! Going for a sausage sizzle rather than some sort of catering seems more laid back and 'community' based. This reinforces the 'community' feel we are trying to put forth
• Kids activities such as face painting and colouring in – get the Design & Digital team to draw up a truck/any other exploration-related images. 

My supervisor really liked these ideas and was particularly keen on the inclusion of the Indigenous community, the sausage sizzle, and face painting. It was great to get good feedback! 

Another experience I enjoyed was when I got to work with a senior consultant. Despite the name, she is actually quite young, and only a few years out of uni! It was good to get to know her, and we spoke for quite a while about how she got to Cannings Purple and her PR journey. I worked with her on two clients: TEDx and a local non-profit providing business advice. I wrote a media release (my first one at Cannings Purple!) and got some good feedback on it. I got to look at the PR plan they wrote up for the client and made a suggestion to utilise Snapchat as one of the tactics. I was a bit hesitant to suggest it, as I felt like it may seem out of line for me to come up with a tactic, but it went down better than expected. The consultant was really impressed with this idea and even forwarded it to the director of the Design & Digital team! It was really cool to have some recognition and I felt that I had made the right decision by coming forth and suggesting something they hadn't thought of. I also wrote up a few social media posts, which also got great feedback.  

Another experience which has proven to be educational is a new initiative Cannings Purple is undertaking in their morning catch ups. Every morning, a different consultant has to talk about something they are doing for 10-15 minutes. These are short presentations on whatever the consultants want to share. These presentations have actually been eye opening and very interesting. I think it's great as it allows everyone in the firm to know what everyone is getting up to, but it also encourages information sharing and collaboration. For example, the director of Design & Digital spoke about a social media monitoring website. Drawing back on my studies of PR Planning and Evaluation, I compared it to Radian6, and it proved to be a lot more sophisticated and show lots of useful information, both for clients, and the firm. Another interesting talk was about SEO. I learned the ins and outs of Search Engine Optimisation and the best ways to utilise it. These talks are things that I really value as an intern, as I am here to learn, and they enable me to learn even more! 

Sorry about the essay, I just had quite a bit to catch you all up on! 

Until next time,

Stav. 

A Purple Beginning...

Hi everyone! My name is Stav and this is my first blog post.

Like the rest of you, I am in my final year of my double degree (PR and Professional Writing and Publishing), and I am really excited to have landed an internship with Cannings Purple. For those of you who may not know, Cannings Purple is a highly acclaimed PR firm in Perth, specialising in corporate affairs, government relations, stakeholder engagement, and other B2B PR-related areas. I decided to apply for an internship with Cannings Purple as these are the areas of PR that interest me the most, and I wanted to go somewhere that would give me a wealth of knowledge and experience in the world of corporate PR.

I go in to Cannings Purple two days a week, and my first week went by really quickly. On my first day, my supervisor showed me around the office, and it is really cool! It feels like a real office, with boardrooms, and people in smart clothing - the office looks out onto Perth's skyline, which makes it all seem very grown up and professional. I learned that the team has a brief meeting every morning to go over what everyone is up to, so that the whole firm is aware of what projects are undertaken and to have a general catch up. I was introduced in this meeting, and everyone was very nice and welcoming. After the meeting I got everything set up - I got my very own laptop, desk, and email address. I was given the task of writing up blurbs about hip local restaurants, bars, and shops for a client's website. This task flowed onto the following day - day two, where I worked closely with the Design & Digital team.

On day two, I joined the Design & Digital team at their weekly meeting, and it was a great insight into the more creative side of the firm (as opposed to the corporate side I had seen previously). I was responsible for creating social media content on Photoshop, working alongside the Art Director and the Digital and Social Media Consultant. This all tied in to the previous day's task, as these social media images linked to the blurbs I had written. On day two, I was also given small tasks by other directors in the firm which was mainly to do research on various vendors for events. It was nice to work with the Design & Digital team as they were all really friendly and keen to help.

My first week was enjoyable! Although the tasks were simple, I enjoyed writing and creating content. My supervisor highly praised my work which was nice, and I was proud to have played a part in creating content for a client. Looking forward to the rest of the internship!

Golden Internship Opportunities

In 2010 the Barnett government was looking at increasing the royalties that they received from Western Australia's gold producers. In response to this an action group was formed to represent the gold industry's interests. The Gold Royalties Response Group (GRRG) succeeded in 2010 in preventing the government from raising gold royalties but the premier mentioned that the issue might be revisited in the future.

As predicted, the government is, now in 2013, again looking to increase the gold royalties from 2.5% to a proposed 5% tax and the GRRG has been reconvened. The communications consultancy I am interning with, Cannings Purple, are once again a significant member of the movement representing the gold industry. This has made for a very interesting time for me to be a part of the company. Cannings Purple is involved in handling the media for the GRRG, here are a few examples of outlets where media coverage has been generated:

Cannings Purple

The Australian

ABC

Yahoo News

Mining Australia

I have personally been involved in many aspects of the campaign. Putting together contact lists for mail-outs, writing potential radio scripts, drafting up letters to gold industry stakeholders and contributing to the campaign's facebook page are some examples of the tasks that I have been given.

Link to the 'Give Gold A Fair Go' facebook page:
Facebook - Give Gold a Fair Go
(we're trying to get likes at the moment so feel free to get on board!)

This campaign is moving very quickly and it's a rewarding process to see the results of your input have an impact so swiftly. I have certainly had the opportunity to utilise some theoretical skills from class in this campaign. For example I've had to write draft letters to employees within the gold sector and also to the shire councils which operate within the same regions as the gold mines. The goal of these letters is to inform and also be a call to action, make the campaign relevant to the receiver and make them feel invested.

These two letters obviously require quite different tones and levels of formality so the lessons we've had in writing are really coming into effect. It feels like not long ago we were all in PR Techniques learning the basics and now after a bit of refinement it's paying off. As current graduates we have an advantage when it comes to social media as it comes naturally to us. This has definitely helped me in contributing to the social media aspect of the campaign, as a user myself it's easy to put myself in the shoes of someone on the receiving end of these messages and the best way to get them involved. Social media is quite an apathetic medium so our focus has been on a strong call to action that connects on a personal level.

Previously I knew very little about the gold sector so an unexpected payoff has been gaining a bit more of an understanding of this industry. When everyone is so focused on iron ore in WA gold has probably been forgotten somewhat so it's good to have some knowledge that I didn't before.

Hopefully plenty more to come with this campaign and watch this space!
Submissions to the government have to be in by 31st October so after I leave here I'll be watching the news eagerly to see the result of the work we are doing now.