The key to success

As we prepare ourselves for our final week/s of our placements, we shouldn’t consider this as the end, but as the beginning of a very challenging and rewarding career. The conclusion of our internships, and for many of us our degrees, is not the closing of one door and the opening of another. Rather, it is the key that enables us to unlock the door to our future career.

I truly believe that the knowledge and skills I have developed over the past 15 or so weeks have provided me with a solid foundation as a PR professional. I now have a taste of what the real world is like, and I can’t wait to get the full experience. I now have a strong ability to work independently and take initiative, I have developed my interpersonal skills as well as got a tremendous amount of writing practice. 

One of the most rewarding outcomes of my internship is establishing a connection between theory and practice. I’m sure I am not the only one who has found that some things are exactly like what we learn at university, but often best practice isn’t always used. A prime example that I encountered at Alcoa is the use of social media. I don’t think there is one of us who would agree that social media isn’t important in this day and age, right? And that’s why I was shocked when I learned that Alcoa of Australia don’t have any social media accounts or actively manage its online reputation. I was even more surprised when I discovered that introducing social media into Alcoa’s communication mix is currently being pitched to top executives, who are largely against the idea. This made me realise how difficult it is to convince top level management about the importance of public relations activities, and that you should never assume that basic best practice concepts are easily adopted. 

So as we begin to unlock the door to new opportunities, we must remember that this is only the beginning. We must continue to develop our skills and abilities, learning from our mistakes as we go. This is the only way that we can continue to open more doors for ourselves and continue to grow as PR professionals. I wish you all the best of luck in your future careers and hope your experience has been as rewarding as mine.

Source: http://www.rtrmarketing101.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/key2success.jpg

 

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!