Our report’s due in a couple of days and it’s the end of our
PR studies at university. Knowing that I will be a part of the industry and
away from our university PR coordinators who are also our mentors, I’ve
increased the amount of blogs and articles I read that relate to our industry
within Australia, America and New Zealand. Recently I came across an article in
PR Week that discusses the importance of mentorships, which I found really
interesting and worth sharing and discussing given our current position.
I know most if not all people around the world who study PR
will complete at least one internship to gain practical experience, but I hadn’t
thought about continued learning in the form of a mentorship, whilst working in
the industry. The article is “Mentorships Greatly Benefit PartiesInvolved: Career Guide 2015” and it discusses
the importance of continued learning from those who have more experience and
wisdom than us newbies. What was most interesting is that the mentorship
relationship should never be with your own line manager whom you work for. The
purpose of the mentorship is to help build our relationships within the
industry - expanding your own network and learning from someone who you admire
and respect away from your current workplace. The Senior Vice President for IBM
in New York, Jon Iwata admitted to asking Johnson & Johnson’s Corporate
Vice President of Public Affairs at the time, Bill Nielsen to mentor him.
I’ve been currently working as a marketing administrator for
a small company and have been contemplating how I will continue my learning
after this unit without having to change jobs just yet and a mentorship seems
to be the answer. I’m curious to know what other interns think about the idea
of finding mentors to learn from. Would you find this to be a benefit for your
career progression and salary increase or more for the knowledge you would gain
that would help you when dealing with colleagues and clients?
Thanks for reading,
Chloe Lucas
