First Steps

It’s been great to finally have a break from the stresses that come with #unilife, but for me it’s time to hang up my bikini and take my first steps into the ‘real world’.

The day is finally here.



I’ve been up all night trying to decide what outfit will most effectively portray the fact that I am keen to learn, professional and above all capable of what they are about to throw at me (even if that include ‘I’ll get a skinny long mac topped up- no sugar’.

I’ve taken my first steps into the office with the social precedent of the word intern hanging over my head, and excitement running through my veins. I keep thinking ‘all I’m going to be doing is filing, getting coffees and running errands- I’ll be fine’.  Boy was I wrong.

I thought that wearing the intern paper crown meant doing the slug work, yet in the first hour here  I feel as if I’ve been thrown into the deep end, and I can honestly say that I’m loving it. The work that I am doing is challenging, interesting and it gets me thinking. It’s a great change from my usual boring 9-5 retail job. I get to apply what I’ve been learning at Uni in a real life situation where it’s actually all starting to make sense now.

Media releases, blog posts, ‘what’s happening’ research, social media- you name it, I’m doing it!

I’ve found myself having been thrown into a world of events and public relations that I honestly love doing- and I’m being intellectually challenged every day I’m here, having to push myself and feeling like one of the head honchos and actually contributing to the team and the business operations.

I had the stereotype in my head that an intern will be placed in the corner, doing silly work that doesn’t make a difference in the businesses success, rather just helps them out with jobs around the office. The tasks and to do lists being passed my way include researching client content and Event/PR topics to include in media releases, event listings and blog posts. I’m liaising with companies and clients and surprisingly I'm actually implementing the skills I’ve learnt at University.

Being thrown into the deep end is an understatement to say the least. 

I’m so happy that an Internship is included in my degree as it really has opened my eyes to the sides of an Event Management and PR organisation that I didn’t realise were so crucial to raising business awareness, gaining momentum and reaching success.

Having a large amount of previous Event Management experience I was already aware of the planning and organising that is contributed towards achieving an event- so that to me was no surprise. Yet what has actually been a surprise to me is the work that is done behind these events that have the potential to make as business great, or give them the image as just another Events and PR company. Of course I knew these things existed in businesses, I just didn't realise how crucial they actually are in all aspects of any business- not just PR and Events! It comes in portraying your business and selling yourself to your desired public's and demographics.

I’m realising how important components like social media, marketing and client management are to the success of an emerging organisation in the market, and I know I will definitely embrace these elements of running a business when I embark on my own adventure. It's definitely relatable to me and what I want to do.

The day is coming to an end and I feel like in one day I have already learnt so much. I was required to do research such as content and image publications to be comprised into promotional material for the business. I never realised how significant components such as promotional and informative e-book’s (electronic material) are in showing your public's what you’re made of and what you can offer client's. These are elements of owning your own business that I didn’t realise mattered as greatly as they do, and I can confidently say that I will definitely be implementing this into my own business path and my career.

I’m actually quite surprised at how easily I found I am fitting in to my new environment. I feel like what I’ve been learning at University I am easily able to apply this into what I am working on. The experience from just one day is extremely surprising and I'm gaining experience that will help in making my own path.

Some could say I'm pretty happy where I am right now, and for some odd reason working for free or slave labour as some might say isn't actually as bad as it sounds.

An example of the ever changing world of PR Deadlines at Go Communications

Deadlines. The fact that the word contains the word 'Dead' must mean its bad right? Its true, deadlines are a pain 99.9% of the time. Especially during them hectic weeks at university where every assignment is due at once and your losing sleep to make that 11pm turnitin deadline. One of the best things about university is deadlines are often given to you with a fair amount of time, I  mean its written on the unit outline. Even then, you can ask for an assignment extension! As much as we hate it, deadlines follow PR students from the classroom and out into the real world of Public Relations.

In my second week at Go I was unfortunate to not have a futuristic deadline as a luxury. In a week of work I had learnt that deadlines can change dramatically. Take for example, a proposal was given to Sarah and I for us to prepare a client presentation. We had till 4pm Monday. Perfect, it was still Friday morning and we aimed to start working on it after lunch Friday and finish it off Monday morning. Little work was achieved after lunch as media monitoring became a priority and by Monday morning we were only really just starting the power point. All good though because we had till 4pm right? . Wrong.  At 10:55am Monday our supervisor informed us of a change of plan and it was due at midday. Frantic, we pulled together a presentation (yes, we did it) and managed to have it completed by 12pm. The pressure was surprisingly a good thing, where we had to think quickly and smart to complete it.

To my fellow classmates completing their internships, the world of PR is constantly changing (as I'm sure your already aware). The media will change their deadlines, the bosses will change their deadlines and the client will change their deadlines. While sometimes stressful, being organised and being on top of your work at all times will ensure a smooth transition for when the workload due is moved forward a few hours.

Bec

The closing event

The time has come where I have officially completed my internship for Sunset Events. The last week was an absolute eye opener with us hosting our last epic festival for the season (GTM) and I have to say it was an absolutely AMAZING way to have ended my time at this amazing company! We spent the last day of my internship working on the festival in Bunbury by moving around to the many areas that needed attention. I spent some time managing the social media pages to ensure there was an update of the festival, coordinating the artist backstage (which was awesome), and helping to man the site office. There were some real perks with the event side of my internship such as seeing so many artists are the numerous festivals I have been able to work at and getting side stage access to some of the best performances.

After spending the last 5 months with the team at Sunset Events, I have learnt how important a good work environment is on the quality of your work and how much effort you put in to what you do. Although my position was not entirely public relations based, it gave me the chance to apply the knowledge I have in to other fields of work and be able to showcase my skills and talents. I have learnt so much throughout my time as an intern and I know that having an established position in an organisation will be better than I could imagine. The support I received from the team also made coming in to work much easier as I was able to get help whenever I needed, and just by watching how the others worked, I was able to adopt a sense of work ethic that will be suitable for me in the future. 

Although my intent is to not work directly in events straight out of university, and instead would rather gain some more knowledge in corporate public relations, I feel like I have really taken a lot from this experience and would love to be given the chance to incorporate my studies and my experience in to one amazing job. The future is very difficult to predict in terms of job availability, I know that I can take my experience at Sunset Events and apply myself to a job of a similar nature. 

With all that said, this is also my last blog post so I hope that people have enjoyed reading them and those who were also interning in an events based company, could relate to my experience! Please comment and let me know what you thought of yours as I would love to see the differences and similarities in the field!