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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My love for organised chaos.

Coming in to the last week of my internship at Mills Wilson, I have had the chance to take part in a lot different activities and have learnt so many tips and tricks about PR and the industry in general. Looking back on my time, it was hard to choose a favourite aspect of my experience to write about.  

I enjoyed developing my writing skills and having the opportunity to write for different clients. I enjoyed seeing all the theory I had learnt through Uni be put in to practice. I enjoyed seeing a ‘real life’ consultancy operating in all its glory. 

There was however, one PR activity that interested me the most – event planning.  

I have always loved organising – everything – and event planning is all about organising. Perhaps I would feel a little differently if I wasn’t just helping out on the sidelines as everyone tells me it is one of the more stressful aspects of PR, but it really appealed to me. 

During the time I have spent at Mills Wilson, they have been organising a large event for one of their major clients. 

The event is to celebrate the opening of a new shopping precinct. It will be a community event that will be held in the shopping precinct just a few weeks after the new stores open their doors to the public for the first time. The event will have live entertainment, rock climbing, tack-less train, cooking demonstrations from Anna Gare (Junior Masterchef Judge), face painting, balloon twisting, bouncy castles, stalls and more. 

The event is expected to attract around 2000 people, so it has taken a lot of work and organising in order to make happen. Watching the amount of effort and planning that goes in to an event like this made me appreciate every event I had ever been to. 

There are so many aspects that I had never considered before – letters to residents,  ensuring suppliers have all necessary information and insurance, council guidelines,  informing emergency services, traffic management and the list goes on! You have to think about every little possibility and actively account for it.

I had the opportunity to play a part in the organising of the event by drafting media material to promote the event, constructing supplier files, drafting letters to residents and emergency services, updating supplier databases, and more. 

All the aspects that go in to event planning and all the things that must be considered really is enough to send your head spinning - but for some insane reason, I loved it. 

Overall, my time at Mills Wilson has been more beneficial than I had ever thought. In the beginning I wasn’t sure what I would get out of the experience but I have definitely taken away some valuable skills and advice that I will carry with me in the future. It has given me a clearer view of where I want to go with my career after Uni and I know that consultancy is definitely on that list!

Closing One Door, Opening Another - The End of my Placement, The Beginning of the Real World

After 20 full days of interning at The Wilderness Society, my placement has come to an end. I can't even begin to explain how thankful I am to the WA team for welcoming me into their office and making me feel like part of their little family. Over the course of the past month I have learnt more than I ever expected to learn and I'm glad to say that I will continue to learn with TWS. I know that I am always welcome to lend a helping hand whenever it is needed.

For my last week, I spent a lot of time tying up some loose ends for our event planning and finishing off the last details for a couple of flyers (finally!!). Also, I was very happy to have finally had the chance to draft up a media release that I used to send to a few Perth events websites to let the public know that there would be free access to our event after 8pm. On my last day with the team, we had a 'social lunch' with the researchers and other volunteers. The team were so lovely and gave me a gift - a book filled with gorgeous nature photography, and a pair of earrings. We also shared a delicious cookies and cream cheesecake. It was the best way to finish my time with them.

Now that I have completed my placement, I have come to learn which areas of PR I am best suited to and which areas I am the most passionate about. Writing media releases, articles and general copy for websites has become a small passion of mine and I've realised that this is the area I would like to extend my future career into. I am also making plans to extend my knowledge in print and website design.

To begin the next stage of my life, I have started searching for potential job opportunities but I'm afraid that I am already daunted by the prospects of finding a job straight out of my degree. There aren't many entry level jobs for PR and majority of the other jobs require at least 2 years experience. I've realised that it is going to take a lot more commitment and hard work in order to start my dream career. I am more than willing to do whatever it takes to gain the experience I'll need.

Finally, although it seems that I can now close the door on my university career, I am able to open other doors thanks to the experience and the confidence I've gained from my placement. I have learnt so much and have made so many wonderful friends whom I am sure I well keep in contact with. PR393 has been the absolute highlight of my studies.

I wish all the best to everyone completing their reports and hope that you have all had an amazing experience!

Best wishes,
Brooke Castelli

The time has come to say goodbye to Miri Marriott

3 months went by so fast. I am finishing up my last week with daily updates of the media clippings for February and a couple of events to prepare later on in the week. One thing I can definitely say beyond any doubt is that this internship has done wonders for my overall confidence. I got up the courage to ask my boss and HR supervisor for testimonials and recommendations today, which I am very pleased to say they were happy to. Aside from those more tangible things I will be taking with me, it is the incredible experience and the great memories spent with great people I am also taking and I will treasure most.

We are insisted upon not to get personal on this blog, but how could you not? You spend three months in close proximity with a small group of wonderful people that they literally become family to you, especially as an international student. All went out of their way to get to know me and make me feel welcome and appreciated as an associate. I am sincerely glad I did the 3 months and not the 20 days. In my first 20 days I had only done a couple of events, a few designs and media clippings; not a lot compared to what I got to do in the 3 months.

Aside from the day-to-day tasks I got to play my part in 2 big projects during my time here. The first was writing the Marriott Matters promotional descriptions for all the F&B (food and beverage) outlets. Marriott Matters is a booklet published every 3 months to highlight all promotions available for that period of time. It was my first ‘big’ task I got to do and I enjoyed it because I enjoy writing (it was the one thing I really hoped to get a chance to do during the internship) and I love food (who doesn’t) so the two passions coming together was great.

The second big task that I got to was presentation slides/video for the ATF (ASEAN Tourism Forum) 2014 that took place in January. I have always enjoyed doing presentation slides, for all group presentation done in Uni I have always volunteered to do them, so I was more than happy when I got asked to them for the hotel. However, it was very different from doing Uni presentations; there was no room for error and I had to incorporate the hotel’s branding, convey the right information/images and make it look as appealing as possible – for 8 minutes (I have to say doing FTV units, particularly Corporate Documentary, came in handy for this task).

Adding a few things to the CV portfolio is great but, as I mentioned in the beginning, what it does for your confidence and your approach to everything you do is an even greater - When I finished the slides, I had to present them to the General Manager- the news of which made me almost chicken out. I will always remember the Sales Manager telling me, "You've got to show people what you're made of!" And I did, and it paid off - and I will definitely be taking that bit of advice with me too.

Thanks a lot Miri Marriott, it's been great.

Rachel Salinah Jackson

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Miri Campus