PR IN THE REAL WORLD

hi everyone

I’m Chedza Jessica Richard, taking a Curtin degree program in Limkokwing University of Creative technology in Malaysia.  I did my internship with Salina & Associates PR for a period of 6 weeks. Salina & Associates is a Public Relations consultancy and during the 6 weeks of my internship placement it was a hands on experience to be part of a dynamic, multicultural, hardworking and most importantly a cooperative staff of Salina & Associates PR. I will keep you posted with my experiences during the 6 weeks of the program of PR in the real world.

Internship at Weber Shandwick - Post 5

My short stint at Weber ended last Friday, 25 September 2009. The two months I was there went passed in a flash. It’s really amazing how much I learnt about PR and things that are related to it.

I have to say I ended the internship when the agency was at its busiest, in other words, my internship ended with “a bang”. Due to high confidentiality matters, it is quite a waste I cannot describe the event in details. However, the client my team was servicing just ended their annual corporate review. Every team member was very involved in the pre, during and post activities. I was not as involved as much as they were but I helped out quite a bit on the research and post event “paper work”.

As said by many, going in first to a consultancy is a great concrete training ground for anyone who aspires to be a PR professional. Although, initially I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of things I had to take in during first few weeks, I grew to love it. One of my superiors asked me what was the most rewarding experience that happened during the internship, I have to say it would be submitting a piece of assignment without much amendments. One of the things I was looking for in the internship before I started was writing. I was pretty pleased that I managed to write in one way or another. Although I did not get to write press releases, I was involved in report writing. That in itself, puts my internship experience to a new heightened level.

Apart from just going through the internship, I have also observed the working styles of many of the employees there. Being meticulous is one of the key attributes you need to possess when working in public relations. Another factor is passion. I feel that you can only do well in public relations if you are passionate about it. Most tasks in the office are done under pressure with very little time. Like many other industries, public relations demand long hours and pro-activeness.

Indeed, interning at Weber has brought me to realize my new found passion, public relations. This internship not only taught me well on the things we learn in school, it also made my future career plan, clearer.

Thank you Weber Shandwick Singapore, for this gratifying and rewarding experience.

All the best in life everyone! And happy advanced graduation. :)

Cheers,

Fidah

Internship at Weber Shandwick - Post 4

My new desk in the office.

My short stint at Weber Singapore is ending soon. I have to admit, I hate to leave. I will leave my farewell post for the 5th post. For now, lets talk about what I did last week.

The highlight of last week is me helping one of my senior consultants with a new project. I am afraid I can't mention the client's name here but it was quite fun! Although what I did was just help prepare the slides, it was quite different from the things I have been doing. My task involved me using Photoshop which made it even more fun! I had to incorporate the client's product into a few photos. I have always loved using Photoshop. I also had to write short biographies of a few well-known chefs around the region. I am hoping I can get more involved in the project!

One other thing that I have been doing is a fortnightly web monitoring report for one of our retainers. It gets quite enlightening because I have to comb through forums, blogs and even Facebook to pick out what the community and public are saying about the client (and competitors). Basically, this reiterate what we learnt in the classroom; the new media plays a huge and influential role in public relations.

In my previous post, I mentioned that I was pretty stress over the mistakes I had made in a report. I believe that things are getting better but I still have to be extra meticulous in the work that I do. I really hope I don't make any more major mistakes, or any mistakes at all!

Have a good week ahead!

Fidah

Internship at Weber Shandwick - Post 3

Hi all,

My internship at Weber has been nothing but intense. Almost every morning, I have to do media monitoring for one of our major clients. From this monitoring, I need to pull the full text and put it in a report of press clippings and send it to the client. It may sound easy but I have to be very meticulous in my work (something that I have never been) because I cannot miss any clippings, which I just did last week. One of my seniors was obviously not happy.

This puts a whole lot of pressure on me once again. During my initial weeks at Weber, I was afraid I couldn't meet the deadline. I have learnt how to manage that. However, now I need to make sure I do it perfectly. The report has no room for mistakes. I feel like I put a great deal of pressure on myself because for once, I actually like what I'm doing. Amidst all the work that has been imposed on me, I enjoy what I'm doing. I'd never really felt that way towards an internship before. I actually look forward to going to the office everyday. I know I want to work in the PR line when I graduate - even if it means long hours, I am up for it.

I am in the corporate team and the bulk of the team's clients are retainers. This also means that the two retainers that we deal with are huge corporations in Singapore.

Apart from that, one of the new things that I have learnt is how to do media audit value for newspaper clippings and broadcast clips. To those who are not familiar with the term, it is an evaluation of the value of newspaper clippings, broadcast clips etc that the agency has generated through the media.

Till then.

Cheers,

Fidah

Internship at Weber Shandwick - Post 2

My internship at Weber has definitely gotten more exciting. Time passes real quick in the office. Unlike my other internships, I always have something to do. Since it is a very fast-paced office, there's nothing that bores me. I have been given more responsibilities at work which always keeps me alert. I also discovered how the PR agency deals with crisis. Like mentioned in class in PR Media, as PR practitioners we need to watch what we say to the media if or when approached by them in a crisis.

One aspect of the internship (before I started) that I was looking forward to was writing. I would love the opportunity to immerse myself in writing for clients, as I was taught in PR Techniques. For example, fact sheets and press releases. However I have not been presented with that opportunity.

As I learnt about ethics in PR in the classroom, I see how it is applied in the "real world". It was written in the Code of Conduct that we must refuse all sorts of gifts that will or appear to be influencing any actions or decisions made towards/for the clients.

Talk to you all in a bit.

Cheers,

Fidah

Internship at Weber Shandwick - Post 1

Macdonald House: The building I am interning in

Hi all. I'm Fidah from Curtin Singapore. Started my first day of internship at Weber Shandwick Singapore (http://www.webershandwick.asia/) today and I must say it was a bit overwhelming. The team was very welcoming and friendly. They were patient in briefing the various tasks I have to take on later this week.

One of the tasks is basically doing Media Monitoring for its two major clients. Also, I was taught on how to calculate the value of a PR coverage and such. It's really an eye opener of how a "real" PR agency works; tight deadlines and detailed reports. Basically on the first day, you have to absorb as much as you can and keep your mind, eyes and ears open on everything that the team does. For this first week I have to "shadow" a senior so that by next week I'll be familiarized with everything and be able to complete the tasks own my own.

One thing that I am impressed about Weber Shandwick is that they treat their interns as regular associates. They create enough opportunities for interns to participate actively in daily operations. This puts a challenge to the internship. There is no such thing as a "typical intern work" in Weber Shandwick.

This Friday, there're throwing a welcome/goodbye dinner for me and an intern that is ending his internship.

Shall keep all of you updated soon. :)

Best wishes,

Fidah