Goodbye for now and Good luck!

 My final week has been the saddest, busiest and most challenging week by far. In my last blog I expressed my third interning week to be my busiest but boy was I wrong. During my final week I was working really busy hours with two days starting as early as 7am and finishing at 5pm. Although these hours were long, I was enjoying every minute of the work I was involved in.

During my busy last week, I had some highlights of helping with filming for a client promo video, calling a clients cause partners for an upcoming opportunity and I met a client which I had spent the last 3 weeks liaising with on the phone. It was so nice to put a face to a voice and be able build that relationship on a more personal level. This week I also had to hand the reins back over on one project that I was involved with from the beginning. After four weeks of being involved, it was very sad to know you have no more involvement in this project, a project which felt like my baby.

Four weeks interning is a long/quick time. It's long enough to feel like you are apart of the team, to fit in and become more then just colleagues but friends with your co-workers. At the end of the 4 weeks I didn't realize how sad I would be to say good-bye, it was lovely to know the feeling was mutual. On my last day everyone said usually with interns we just say goodbye, but this time it was sad as they said they felt like I was an actual employee there. This was a nice feeling to know you ended up really fitting in and will be remembered once leaving. 

On your last day of interning it is mandatory that the intern bring in something sweet to share with everyone. I had recommendations that chocolate is always a winner and brownies were the best. So you guessed it, I made chocolate brownies. However being the terrible cook I am, I ended up burning the first batch at 7pm on the Thursday night, lucky for me it was late night shopping so I was able to run to the shop to buy more ingredients. Thankfully they were a major hit at my internship placement, so it made the late night dash to the shops worth it.

One week after my internship had finished, I received an email from the HR manager inviting me out for lunch with herself and the director of the consultancy. I was over the moon to be invited back; they said they had never taken an intern out for lunch before so I felt very privileged. They thanked me for my efforts and said that although there are no positions available at the moment, the possibilities of the future are unknown. After the four weeks I definitely know that I would love to venture into consultancy when I graduate and I can’t imagine working in any other consultancy than this one. It’s definitely the ultimate dream, so fingers crossed when I graduate there is an opening and I make it on the list of candidates.

For now its goodbye and good luck with all of your internships! I promise interning is the best most invaluable experience that I am sure each and every one of you will love. I know I sure did.

Chelsea J

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

It is the end, but also the beginning. The end of my internship with Meridian Services, and the beginning of a new phase in life, as someone who has the experience and knowledge of how public relations applies in 'the real world', outside of textbooks and classrooms.

The past 12 weeks have been a crash course in all-things PR and communications, with a minor in handling stress. From creating contacts and relationships to benefit the firm in the long-term (that is, long after I've moved on), to organising and being a part of the three-day BUSTED WA Roadshow, each and every task I've been left with have left their mark on the manner in which the company interacts with its stakeholder and how Meridian functions internally. As I mentioned before, nothing can function without the smallest piece; despite sometimes experiencing frustration at the seemingly endless minute tasks like putting together contact lists, I also got the satisfaction of witnessing my briefs and contacts being put to use with the frameworks of public relations plans being pieced together. 

Part of BUSTED WA's PR campaign against site crime

It's also been fascinating to watch how different departments interact with each other and how their actions influence the business as a whole. When presented with potential issues, the marketing department's response will be entirely different to that of the public relations department, but each can work together to  provide a more holistic, long-term solution.

Being mentored within such an environment has been so educational as to exactly how important effective public relations is to business success. The team at Meridian took me under their wing, and by dividing my tasks between the four main branches of the business created several opportunities to embrace challenges such as creating product fact sheets, updating social media, interacting with stakeholders through direct contact and email follow-up, writing briefs for conferences and meetings and even presenting to rooms full of stakeholders. The challenge was met only by the thrill of a job well done.

It has been such a pleasure to have completed an internship where not only my PR skills, but also my communication and critical thinking skills were consistently trialled and improved. Meridian's anti-cyber bullying, anti-poaching and anti-site crime initiatives (Space Safe Kidz, Chameleon and BUSTED, respectively) showed that my efforts were seeking to make the community around us a better place; there's not many other places where drafting an email-out can give you the same feeling of satisfaction!

 

To those who are still in the throes of their internship, all the best of luck! Be satisfied with who you are, be always reaching for the better result, consider what else you can do for your community.

Phoebe.

It is definitely not a final goodbye...

Hi all,

I feel very nostalgic writing this blog right now and believe me folks, it is not the same feeling as I wrote my first blog a month back when I had just started my internship. I have completed 30 days of my internship on a part-time basis at Marcom, an In-house Communication agency for the British American Investment.

There are a lot of things I have learnt and faced different challenges. During my last week at Marcom, I was asked to conduct research about our conglomerates and give some recommendations on how they could improve. It was really a tough job since I had to scrutinize their Facebook page, websites, blogs and anything else that talked about them and record it. I was even asked to provide links of blogs who talked about our conglomerates ( both negative and positive). I thought it was the same as the social media power-point presentation I had done previously but it was not the same.

This time things were different. I had to monitor almost everything that was being said on the clients and record it. It was a mini business report. The aim behind it was to scrutinize what they public thinks of our conglomerates and why is it so. This was done so as we could evaluate the effectiveness of our strategies used. This would not only tell us how effective the strategies were but also tell us what people are expecting and what should out next step be. It also helps the organisation to identify new market opportunities.

It was indeed to easy job as I had to go through a lot of things; A LOT and I had to read every single thing being said about our conglomerates. Yes it is time consuming and needs a lot of patience and attention but like I have said in one of my previous posts, WHEN YOU ARE IN THE COMMUNICATION FIELD, YOU DO ALMOST EVERYTHING!

So this is it people! I have loved sharing every moment of my internship be it the good or challenging parts and I have also appreciated that some took the time to respond to my blog.
And as the title says it all, this is not a goodbye but just a disguised hello from the future endeavors.

I wish everyone good-luck with their internships and report.
Keep us updated with your internship journey.

Karishma Rughoonundun
15636461
CTI Mauritius

Summing up doing corporate communications in a charitable organisation

Hi all, counting down just three more days before the internship ends.

I just want to share a few important points to note when working in the corporate communications department in a charitable organization.

First: One really has to learn to work under tight budgets, this is important as every amount of money especially in a charitable organization has to be documented. Thus regardless of how important that backdrop or exhibition panel is, either one has to think of ideas to do something cheaper or have good relations with vendors who will help to perhaps sponsor or give big discounts.

Second: Many levels of approvals. This means that to approve for example, content in the programme booklets, we do not just have to go through the head of corporate communications but also the secretary general and both deputy secretary generals. Truthfully, I understand the need to have the senior management to look through as it is a reputable charitable organization. However with the number of people that have to approve it, this means more time is involved and the initial direction that the booklet should have may be lost in the process.

 

For example, the logo on the Left that was specially created to represent the ceremony was changed numerous times.

Third: Showcasing the Real side. As we seek stories that can be used for pitching to the media or even just to highlight to the public, we never try to stage things. We believe that it is through the stories of real persons told that can perhaps inspire or encourage others to take a wider look at the people around and not judge them from just their physical appearances.

Probably the most interesting thing that we can take away is seeing a side of society that one will not normally see. Sometimes SRC aims to show the real needs in Singapore and that means visiting the beneficiaries. Through a conversation with them, you will understand that some beneficiaries really need a lot of subsidiaries to just help them get through life. For some, they tend to be optimistic believing that since life has given them a form of obstacle, they will find ways to overcome them. In fact when I was making calls to champion blood donors to find out what got them into blood donation; one of them mentioned that it really takes time and courage to donate blood. Why donate material items like food and cash when you can donate blood or platelets that can give someone another shot at life.

 

 

As I end my stay at SRC, I will always have a soft spot for it. My Impression of SRC was a organization that promotes blood donation or donations for humanitarian relief overseas, now I realize that they do a lot for the community especially for the elderly and needy.

 

Regardless of any happy or tired moments, it has been a fun and enjoyable internship. It may or may not kick-start my career in public relations, but it has definitely shown me the side of public relations which I know I will always enjoy.

 Lastly, introducing SRCs’ mascot, Tiggi, who appeared suddenly three years ago and now calls the SRC his home.

 

That’s all for now as I bid farewell to an internship and the end of two fruitful years in Curtin Singapore but we will meet again someday.

 

Thank you.
Jacquelyn Woo
Curtin Singapore
15658504