I Made It!!!

This week is the last week of my internship, it is so crazy to think how quickly the time has flown! My 20 days at Professional Public Relations has come to an end and it has been an amazing opportunity. In this final blog post I’m going to reflect on my time here at PPR and the things that I have learnt.

My first few days at PPR were a little scary. I’d never worked in an office/corporate environment before and wasn’t sure of my place in the firm. I tried not to get in the way of what people were doing too much and I wasn’t sure of how to approach people to ask for work. Fast forward 20 days and I’m super comfortable here now and have settled into the organisation well.

This internship has definitely been a big change for me. I haven’t done a lot of full time work over the course of my time in employment, so having to be up and in the office by 9am everyday was a change in itself. Combine that with my lack of experience in a corporate setting and the fact that I haven’t had to use the knowledge I’ve learnt at uni thus far for anything other than exams, it shows how much progress I needed to make at the start of the internship. But I’m here! And I made it! J

I somewhat expected all of the work I had learnt over the course of my degree to be in the back of my head ready for me to just pull out at any moment when I needed to, but it wasn’t like that at all! I definitely had to relearn a few things, and for some of the things I could remember I needed to increase the level of standards from what I had learnt. There were a few occasions where I needed to redo some of the work to increase the standard, but the best way to learn is by learning from your mistakes!

I would definitely recommend doing an internship to other people who haven’t done one yet, as it provides an insight into the kind of work you’re going to be doing if you pursue a career in that field and gives you some experience being in that setting. It’s crazy how much difference it can make by doing a few weeks of interning, both to your knowledge of the industry and also to your confidence.

Holly Armstrong

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Being published in the Australian Financial Review

I had a great opportunity the other day at my placement to see a different side of PR and to write some articles for a technology focused magazine that will be inserted inside the Australian Financial Review! Very exciting stuff for me. I haven’t done a lot of writing at my placement so far, mostly just in the sense of media releases but not actual journalistic articles so it was a great opportunity for me to try something new. It was also great because the National Head of Investor Relations was the one who offered me the opportunity, so it was great working with someone with a lot of influence and experience.

I wrote two articles, one about a local West Perth based company who won the National Innovation Award at the 2016 iAWARDS for technological innovation in their field and nationwide, and the second article was about a programme being run down at Sacred Heart College regarding the “Just Start IT” programme that immerses students in a hands on environment where they design their own programme/app and the winning team has the opportunity to work alongside a tech company who assists them in developing the software and bringing the programme to life.

The Australian Financial Review is distributed to over 65,000 organisations nationwide so it’s actually so crazy to think that my articles with my by-line will be published in there for people all over Australia to read. I mean, I’m just an intern after all! It was a really great experience and learning opportunity for me and definitely one of the most exciting things I’ve done at my placement thus far and I’m really excited to get to see my words in print!


Holly Armstrong
18022908
Curtin University, Bentley

Being published in the Australian Financial Review

I had a great opportunity the other day at my placement to see a different side of PR and to write some articles for a technology focused magazine that will be inserted inside the Australian Financial Review! Very exciting stuff for me. I haven’t done a lot of writing at my placement so far, mostly just in the sense of media releases but not actual journalistic articles so it was a great opportunity for me to try something new. It was also great because the National Head of Investor Relations was the one who offered me the opportunity, so it was great working with someone with a lot of influence and experience.

I wrote two articles, one about a local West Perth based company who won the National Innovation Award at the 2016 iAWARDS for technological innovation in their field and nationwide, and the second article was about a programme being run down at Sacred Heart College regarding the “Just Start IT” programme that immerses students in a hands on environment where they design their own programme/app and the winning team has the opportunity to work alongside a tech company who assists them in developing the software and bringing the programme to life.

The Australian Financial Review is distributed to over 65,000 organisations nationwide so it’s actually so crazy to think that my articles with my by-line will be published in there for people all over Australia to read. I mean, I’m just an intern after all! It was a really great experience and learning opportunity for me and definitely one of the most exciting things I’ve done at my placement thus far and I’m really excited to get to see my words in print!


Holly Armstrong
18022908
Curtin University, Bentley

I Survived!

I did it! I completed 20 full days at my internship!

During my last few days many of my colleagues were asking me questions in regards to my time in the office. One reoccurring question I got asked is, “Has this experience been everything you imagined?”

To be very honest before starting my 20 days I assumed everything I had learnt would come rushing back to me and I would be completely fine. Considering I had sat through 3 years of theory and practical PR classes. Put in countless hours for assignments and exams and interacted with multiple students across the course. How different could PR in an office environment be to a classroom environment?

Probably a naïve thought right? Never did I imagine I would be writing articles, pitching to newspapers, speaking with journalists, or be involved in confidential projects. All of this and more I can say I have achieved in just 4 short weeks.

I have been very fortunate to experience my time as an intern with another intern Jess from Curtin. Having someone beside you defiantly make things a little easier when you are asked to do tasks such as monitor the media room of a large Oil and Gas conference! A crazy job for 2 inexperienced PR girls, but what better way to gain experience then to be thrown straight into the deep end.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt coming out of my internship is to believe in myself and trust things will work out. I have never been one to enjoy change, so when day one of the 4 weeks began, everything that I was used to was completely different. Instead of driving, I was catching the bus, instead of lazing around in the afternoons, I was working on client pitches. All in all, my days were completely different to what I was used to. However, the knowledge and experience I gained doesn’t compare to anything else I’ve done before and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

If there’s any advice I could give to someone thinking about doing an internship or work experience for a company, I would 100% say go for it. Take every opportunity you get, (even if it seems scary)because the only way you’ll learn is if you give it your best shot!

Completing my internship has made me excited about the future and where my degree will take me. I have more experience, I have more confidence, Now I just have to secure a job....Wish me luck!

Yummy Morning Tea from PPR to thank Jess and I for our time in the Office.

How to be a good intern

It has been just over two weeks now since I finished my internship at PPR. Reflecting back on it I started to think about what in my mind makes a good intern. Couple of things came to mind that I learned during my month long internship so I decided to write them down. Hopefully they can be useful for anyone who is just about to start their internship or doing theirs at the moment.

Here are my top seven tips for anyone interning:

1. Listen carefully and ask questions

Do not be afraid to ask questions. It is very important that you understand the work you are given and how to do it in order to be able to complete the task successfully. If you do not understand something just ask, most supervisors are happy to explain and make sure you are confident in completing the task rather than later having to have to fix all the mistakes that were made because you did not understand the scope of work. It is also important to listen carefully of what is being said because as an intern you know less than your supervisors. They have years of experience and can teach you a lot if you are willing to listen and learn.

2. Actively seek work

Sometimes people can get busy with their own work and don’t always think of what they can give to the intern to do unless asked. I found it very important to actively show interest in different projects and talk to people in order to get work. Your supervisors will appreciate the enthusiasm and people are more likely to give you interesting tasks to do.

3. No matter what the task is – always say yes

That is of course if you have the capacity to do the work, if you are already overloaded with tasks try and get the deadline extended or let your supervisor know. I found that at times doing tasks that did not seem so exciting lead into more interesting ones. Often by accepting mundane jobs you are showing to your supervisor that you are willing to learn and do well at any job given to you.

4. Do not forget to ask for feedback

Most of the time I found in my internship I got given feedback right after completing my task but at times I had to ask for it. It is important to seek feedback to give you opportunity to see what you did well and what you can improve on.  Be open to any feedback, including criticism, as it is all useful for you and will help you develop excellent PR skills.

5. Work hard

If you want to succeed you need to work hard and make a full contribution to the team. Take time to complete all the tasks given to you. Always proofread everything before submitting it. Be mindful of deadlines given to you and follow up once you have completed your task to see if there is anything extra you can do. 

6. Don’t be afraid to talk to people

One of the tasks I had to do during my internship was calling people and interviewing them for possible news articles. At first it seemed a bit daunting but I quickly realised that it is just part of the job and once you get comfortable calling people, be it a person you need to interview or a journalist to who you will pitch a story idea to, it is a useful skill to have. After few of those calls it wasn’t that intimidating anymore and by the end of the internship I felt fairly confident calling who ever was necessary. Just try and be enthusiastic when pitching stories to journalists and patient and curious when interviewing people for news articles.

7. Have fun

Last but not least – have fun. It is a wonderful opportunity to learn everything about the PR industry and to soak in all the knowledge the people in your company have. If you are enthusiastic and willing to work people will be more willing to teach you and to include you in different activities and meetings.

To finish up here is a photo from the RSPCA cupcake day that was held at the office on my last week of internship. 

TWIN-ternship

Walking in on the first day of my 4-week long internship, I thought I knew exactly what to expect. Of course, I’ve seen Devil Wears Prada many times and used to follow MTV’s the Hills religiously, so how different could a Public Relations firm in Perth be?

Basically, not that different! Besides for the stereotyped preconception of an intern paper copying, filing, shredding, and lots and lots of coffee runs, being an intern definitely has its “Lauren Conrad” vibes.

Upon meeting my fellow intern Jess (who coincidentally looks like she could be my sister), we hit it off straight away. We were shown to our desks, told where the kitchen and bathroom was and basically dove head first into work. As daunting as it may seem to be handed a bunch of work and told to please complete by a certain time, I’ve always been the type of person to deliver under pressure. From media monitoring, product launches, and excel spread sheets, Monday at PPR was a good day.

The rest of the week was just as exciting! Never did I think I would be asked to help with a media drop!

Having the opportunity to work with one of the consultants who manages IGA, I was asked to deliver items to different Media Outlets on behalf of the launch of the new City Beach store. It was exciting to be able to firsthand experience different media outlets, where they are and what they look like. I drove all around Perth CBD delivering hampers of food to Seven West, WA Today and Perth Now. I really felt like I was experiencing a LC moment off the Hills. #ParisAnyone?

Although it’s only been a week since I started I feel like I am already part of the team. Week one has flown by and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the month has to hold for me.

Jodi xx

List of Media Outlets I had to deliver to.

Visit to WA Today, and entering the 6PR offices.

Being the hand model for the PPR Instagram, page after Bankwest dropped off treats!

OZ Harvest, media releases and first days

Hello Everyone! This will be my first blog contribution for PR Internship unit. I cannot believe I am already on my second week of internship. Time has truly gone so fast. I was going to post something on my first week but then decided I will complete the full week first and then reflect on what I have learned and experienced so far. So here we go. It feels like it was just yesterday when I took the elevator up to the second floor to start my first day as an intern at Professional Public Relations (PPR). For those of you who do not know PPR is one of the biggest public relations consultancies in Perth. On my first day I was beyond nervous. Hundreds of thoughts were running through my head as I was getting ready in the morning, I was worried about fitting in, curious of what I will be asked to do, even worried if what I was wearing was going to be appropriate and most of all nervous if I would be able to complete all the tasks given to me. As I stepped out of the elevator doors into the office I was instantly greeted by smiles and a warm welcome from everyone. Straight away I felt a sense of relief and I knew that most of my worries were unnecessary and the next month was going to be a fantastic opportunity to really learn how a public relations consultancy works. On my first day I was lucky enough to attend an OZ Harvest event with couple of colleagues in the city centre. One of the previous PPR workers is now working for OZ Harvest and some of the team went to support her by attending the event in Forrest Chase. The outing was a fun way to start the working week and gave me an opportunity to get to know the people I was going to work with for the next four weeks.

Think Eat Save today with @ozharvest 👏🏻 #thinkeatsave

A photo posted by PPR Social (@pprsocial) on Jul 24, 2016 at 8:59pm PDT

During my first week here the receptionist was still away on holiday so part of my day included filling in at the reception desk. This was a great opportunity to get to know everyone better and it also helped me to understand how the company works and the amount of clients they have. I got to learn how to interact with clients who met me as a first point of contact when entering the building. I think this extra experience really made me understand the ins and outs of the company a little bit more. Other than the reception work I had a range of different tasks on my first week. I got to do everything from interviewing people for news stories to writing pitch emails to journalists to gathering and researching communications materials for a variety of clients on various topics. One of my tasks was also to write a media release for a new medical smartphone app announcing their nominating for an award. I found the whole process of research and writing very interesting. Overall I have really enjoyed my first week. I have learned a lot about the people who work here and how they got to this point and also I have learned a little bit more about how a consultancy works. I have learned that it can be very much an up and down cycle. At times everyone is very busy and it can be incredibly fast paced but then the next week it can switch and everyone will have a lot more time in their hands. I am positive there is still a lot more for me to learn and I am excited for the next three weeks. I cannot wait to see what new tasks and jobs I will be undertaking and what else I will get to be part of. I hope everyone who is already completing their internship is having an amazing time and is making the most of it. It is such a great opportunity to really get to know the industry and be part of it. And for those of you yet to start your internship all I would like to say is just relax and be friendly and do not be afraid to ask questions when you need to. I was very intimidated when I first started but now after being here a week I can see my worries were unreasonable and I should have just been more excited than stressed about little things.

The Peaks and Troughs of Consultancy Life

This week I have learnt that consultancies are not always fast paced but follow a continuous up- and-down cycle. There are periods where client work dies down and you are left putting your focus onto one or two many tasks instead of juggling four or five. It has been a lot quieter at PPR this week, and this wasn’t just for me. A lot of the girls were saying that this week had slowed down quite considerably from the previous weeks, but explained that this was just the nature of consultancy. One week you may absolutely loaded with tasks, and by the next they may have all been completed or not needed anymore and there may not be any new work to start on at that time. This is what has happened to me throughout my three weeks at PPR so far. The first week and a half was pretty hectic and I had to learn how to do everything quite quickly, but the past week has been a lot quieter, and I have only been working on one main task for a client and doing a few little jobs for others here and there.

 I spent most of my time working on the Bunnings Activity Tracker for PPR in Victoria this week. This was because one of the PPR staff members over in Melbourne who was in charge of the Bunnings account had recently left the company, and so the girls from the PPR WA office were asked to help take over the account until they found someone else to cover it. So, majority of my workload for the week consisted of going through the activities list for Bunnings Victoria (for example workshops the different stores they were holding, school visits they would be doing etc) and then drafting an outline of the event for the local media outlet of each store. By the end of the week I had drafted up roughly 30 media releases. Next week I will be pitching these media releases to each relevant media outlet with help from one of the girls which is exciting!  It was also my job to compile an Excel table of all of the local media outlets and their editor or reporter for each Bunnings store.

An exciting moment for me this week has been seeing my Purple Bra Day story published in the Eastern Reporter. It was interesting to see how the journalist edited it to suite the audience of the paper. In my case, they cut about half the content out to make it a shorter article and changed the title. Aside from that, everything else stayed the same, so it was amazing to see my own written words in print in the newspaper as well as in the online edition!

Here is a link to the online article if you are interested in having a quick look:

http://www.communitynews.com.au/eastern-reporter/news/purple-patch-in-morley-for-breast-cancer-fundraiser/

Towards the end of the week I developed quite a bad cold, but I felt bad asking for a day off, as I knew I only had four weeks to make the most of this internship. Nevertheless, it was comforting to know that the girls in the office cared more about my health than anything and practically told me to take the day off so I could get better. Its nice knowing I am carrying out my work experience in a place where everyone is so caring and considerate of each other, and I definitely won’t forget the kindness everyone has extended out to me throughout my time at PPR.

I was hoping to share more pictures with you all but I have been based mostly in the office, so I figured posting heaps of office snaps would just be boring! I hope you are all enjoying your holidays and/or placement and are learning lots! I will post again soon.

-Helen

The People Who Really Leave Their Mark

I am now officially half way through my internship at PPR which is so crazy, because it only feels like it was Monday yesterday. This week has been another busy one, but I guess the aspect of it I would most like to reflect on is the new experiences I have had and the impact they have had on me. I have been drafting up a lot of media releases for clients and conducting several over the phone interviews this week. It is so warming to know that some of the people you call up have their day made when you tell them they have the opportunity to be in the local paper. 

I have done a lot of work for Coles and their team member anniversaries this week. It has been a wonderful experience hearing about their lives and their time at Coles. It is interesting how much you can learn from someone  in a fifteen-minute phone call, that’s for sure! Everyone I interviewed has such a love and passion for their job, even if it was a simple job such as working on the checkouts. It is even more amazing to think that they have been working there for 35+ years and still have this passion for the role and a commitment to their employer. That was something I will certainly take away from this week, and I aspire to be like those individuals in 30 or 40 years time who still have a bottomless passion for what they do. 

A highlight of my week has definitely been finding out a story I had written and pitched  to one of the local papers  is  going to appear either in print in the newspaper next Tuesday or appear on their online news website. I know this is would be such a small milestone for some, but for me it is so exciting knowing there are people out there who care enough about what I am writing  publish it! 

The even more exciting thing for me though is knowing that the local who I interviewed for the story and is so pleased to be getting their story in the paper, and by getting the story approved to be run, I feel like I have done well by them. This is just one thing I have gained from my experience as an intern so far and one thing I hope all of you get to experience too, whether it be in your internship or in your career after Uni.

I really feel like this internship has made me fall in love with the PR profession even more. I guess sitting in class at Uni, you take in all the information, but you never get to experience it and become emotionally involved with it, so I can see now why this internship is so valuable!

I feel like the following quote would be the most appropriate way to finish this blog post. 

‘Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.’ -Steve Jobs 

Thanks for reading, and I hope all of your intern adventures are going well! 

-Helen 

Importance of research & planning: putting theory into practise

I have completed units in the past where they discuss the importance of using research methods such as surveys, questionnaires and focus groups. But before completing my internship, I didn’t realise it's full potential and how much of an impact it actually makes, especially for PR.

The Friday before my internship commenced, I went into Professional Public Relations (PPR) for a hand-over from the old intern, and to meet everyone I would be working with. One of the Senior Counsels asked me if I would like to meet him on Sunday to help complete patron surveys regarding the move of football to Lathlain oval. As per advice given from the old intern, to take all opportunities, I said yes and helped him out. 

The Monday I started at PPR, I entered 184 survey results into an excel spread-sheet. After this, more surveys were conducted and more data was entered. While this may not seem exciting, it was incredibly interesting to see the stretch of questions, from asking how old they were or what suburb they’re from (demographics) to open-ended questions such as what they would like to be done with the remaining Subiaco oval. Some responses were very opinionated and others seemed not too fussed.

I was then taken through the process of how what I had helped with (surveying and data entering) will then be used to help with a major research report for the City of Subiaco by attending an exclusive meeting. The whole process was discussed and I could now see how the work I had done fits into the bigger picture. This data would form part of a potential decision that will made in the future as a result from the people I helped survey and the data I had entered.

Research is vital for any industry, but especially important for public relations professionals in order to estimate and plan for the future as well as developing strategic PR plans. After completing my placement at PPR, I now fully understand the potential and significance of research and how effective the use of surveys can be to develop a broad research base and to access a large demographic of people.

The following video shows how PR planning/ research is ‘over-stated but over-stepped’ and how many businesses underestimate this step, resulting in an overall loss of efficiency.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYjjhisFJRw

Until next time, 

Greta x