The end…
Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. Winston Churchill
Today is my final day at the organisation I have worked for. It is a very funny feeling, as for me it also marks the last day of uni work as this is my very last unit.
Although completion has not quite been reached….the beast of the report is only half finished…it does feel like my uni years have come to an end and now is the time for me to hit the real world. But I am putting it off for a few years, and have decided instead to go travelling and see the world before starting my career.
The placement has proved that this, my third attempt at a degree, was the one for me. I really do feel like this is the career for me, and though I am not quite ready to be a full time worker- I am excited to finally start on the path towards it.
What have I learnt:
Planning is essential. Every possible media can be planned for, both reactive and proactive media and we should always be on the front foot.
Public relations must be practised and preached at all levels; from accounts to it to marketing. It only takes one phone call to undo millions of dollars of image creating.
Role models are amazing. I was so blessed and fortunate to have two wonderful ladies to model my own career aspirations and daily work ethic on. I am incredibly sad to be leaving, but know that I will stay in touch with these two women for the rest of my career.
Showing posts with label 14158919. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 14158919. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Working with different people
WORKING WITH DIFFERENT PEOPLE
At the organisation I am working at we have just updated and relaunched our website. During this long and arduous process a continual debate was the web platform and whether or not it was a technical or communication tool.
Obviously I am sure everyone reading this blog would come at it from a public relations perspective and say it is most definitely a communication tool.
The debate from an IT perspective though was it was a technological tool first and foremost and the debate reminded me that not everyone thinks on the same plane of thought.
I think it is important, and something that I hadn’t had much practise at, that not everyone thinks in the same way we are used to. Even though we do A LOT of group work during university it is all with people that are doing the same degree, or similar degree so are all communication centric.
For a humorous look at this idea I have included a link to the IT Crowd, a British comedy about what it is like to work in the IT department of a business.
http://www.theitcrowd.co.uk/script/1.1/en/1-1.2-yesterdays-jam.htm
Another website summed up different personalities in the workplace by saying;
“It doesn’t matter how great the organisation you work for is. It doesn’t matter how fulfilling the work culture and atmosphere is. There will always be difficult people at work with a different agenda then helping with optimum work performance. They come in various shades, and they have different styles and approaches to making their presence felt. To be fair, most of them may not even know how disruptive they can be-then again, some do. In all cases though the sincere and focused employee suffers.” http://www.cvtips.com/career-success/types-of-difficult-people.html
I have loved my work placement but have times struggled, not necessarily with difficult personalities, but rather with different work habits. Some people could easily chat their way through the day, forwarding funny emails and still deliver on all tasks set to them. Others worked quietly, had no time to be disturbed, and would still deliver the same amount of work. Of course there were others that might not have achieved that much work!
A big thing to get used to for when I enter the work place is cubicles and open offices. I found when I first started I was easily distracted by conversations and phone calls occurring all around me, but now at the end of my internship I have become used to the general hum of office noise.
At the organisation I am working at we have just updated and relaunched our website. During this long and arduous process a continual debate was the web platform and whether or not it was a technical or communication tool.
Obviously I am sure everyone reading this blog would come at it from a public relations perspective and say it is most definitely a communication tool.
The debate from an IT perspective though was it was a technological tool first and foremost and the debate reminded me that not everyone thinks on the same plane of thought.
I think it is important, and something that I hadn’t had much practise at, that not everyone thinks in the same way we are used to. Even though we do A LOT of group work during university it is all with people that are doing the same degree, or similar degree so are all communication centric.
For a humorous look at this idea I have included a link to the IT Crowd, a British comedy about what it is like to work in the IT department of a business.
http://www.theitcrowd.co.uk/script/1.1/en/1-1.2-yesterdays-jam.htm
Another website summed up different personalities in the workplace by saying;
“It doesn’t matter how great the organisation you work for is. It doesn’t matter how fulfilling the work culture and atmosphere is. There will always be difficult people at work with a different agenda then helping with optimum work performance. They come in various shades, and they have different styles and approaches to making their presence felt. To be fair, most of them may not even know how disruptive they can be-then again, some do. In all cases though the sincere and focused employee suffers.” http://www.cvtips.com/career-success/types-of-difficult-people.html
I have loved my work placement but have times struggled, not necessarily with difficult personalities, but rather with different work habits. Some people could easily chat their way through the day, forwarding funny emails and still deliver on all tasks set to them. Others worked quietly, had no time to be disturbed, and would still deliver the same amount of work. Of course there were others that might not have achieved that much work!
A big thing to get used to for when I enter the work place is cubicles and open offices. I found when I first started I was easily distracted by conversations and phone calls occurring all around me, but now at the end of my internship I have become used to the general hum of office noise.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Never do anything by email that can be done with a phone call.
Every morning there are emails. For some staff an entire day can be spent replying and sorting emails. Even me, as the lowly work experience kid gets heaps for everything under the sun…‘coffee van is here’...ranger out the front’...Just thought you should be kept in the loop…
One of my tasks was to contact over 60 organisations requesting their co-operation in an advertorial, my initial idea was an email, mail merged of course so that everybody felt special, and I was told…’never do anything by email that can be done by a phonecall…’
I was overwhelmed by the speediness of the response of people who I called first before sending them the details in an email. I had built a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with them. They knew my voice, we had had a chuckle over the cricket/tennis/weather…and they felt compelled to follow up.
A faceless email however doesn’t inspire the same pull…
But there were exceptions to the rule…big organisations where I seemed to constantly be talking to the receptionists receptionist didn’t care for the phonecall.
They were busy.,
They had meeting to attend about meetings,
These people just want a quick email with dot points outlining exactly what you need from them and how they benefit from helping you and that is all.
I guess in public relations where a major part of it is building a relationship in these organisations you need to prove that you will always be punctual and professional with them and know when to stop asking, stop emailing and leave the idea for the time being.
I think the exercise highlighted to me the need to personalise a response depending on the target market and company, because even though they might all be stakeholders under the same umbrella, at the end of the day you are dealing with an individual human being, a real life person-not an organisation, and it is important to tailor the communication of the message to each individual.
Digital Footprint
Type your name into google, what do you see?
Embarrassing photos, you drunk at a nightclub, an event gathering, you on your ex’s arm?
Well this is exactly what everyone else will see including your future employee.
We dress so well for an interview, we triple check our cv’s to make sure there are no spelling mistakes and we research the organisation we are applying for so that we know the ins and outs. But do we ever check the internet? Because you can be sure in the future whoever is interviewing you will when you walk out of that room.
We are the first generation of future workers who not only have a cv and references but an entire databases of private lives there for the world to see.
And for most of us university students our lives are lived on facebook, but that might not be the life we are trying to sell for an employee.
So what about whatever organisation you are working for? Does someone casually google the organisation every morning. Does media monitors send in any hits every day? This blog can be searched through google so what is being written about on here. Are you comfortable with whoever you are shadowing reading this, your fellow employees, the CEO?
I share my full name with an American president and a particularly attractive looking porn star, so although I attract a lot of hits when I search for my name, thankfully there is only one that is for me.
The Australian government has started to issue warnings to teens about this possible issue and links to their information are available here http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/Teens/Tips%20and%20advice/Your%20digital%20footprint.aspx. And another interesting video to watch on your digital dossier/footprint is here http://www.teach42.com/2009/02/19/your-digital-dossier/ .
The internet and theories on internet use has labelled the generation that was born into the digital age as digital natives, and those that have instead learnt how to use the internet and technology during their lifetime as digital immigrants. It is said that once digital natives are in leadership roles the use of technology will transform the way everyone leads their lives.
As budding pr practitioners we have learnt what a powerful sword the internet is, the possibility for instantaneous communication feed about an organisation and its movements has allowed news to reach further corners then was ever imagined. It has also meant that due to the lack of time and lack of resources journalists now have at their disposal that often media releases are hitting news sites without any editing. A huge win for public relations!
However it is important to remember that the internet is a permanent digital library and catalogue of information. Deleting facebook and myspace doesn’t mean you still can’t be found. So I think it is important to be careful what is written and photographed of you then put online- as you never know who will read it in the future.
Embarrassing photos, you drunk at a nightclub, an event gathering, you on your ex’s arm?
Well this is exactly what everyone else will see including your future employee.
We dress so well for an interview, we triple check our cv’s to make sure there are no spelling mistakes and we research the organisation we are applying for so that we know the ins and outs. But do we ever check the internet? Because you can be sure in the future whoever is interviewing you will when you walk out of that room.
We are the first generation of future workers who not only have a cv and references but an entire databases of private lives there for the world to see.
And for most of us university students our lives are lived on facebook, but that might not be the life we are trying to sell for an employee.
So what about whatever organisation you are working for? Does someone casually google the organisation every morning. Does media monitors send in any hits every day? This blog can be searched through google so what is being written about on here. Are you comfortable with whoever you are shadowing reading this, your fellow employees, the CEO?
I share my full name with an American president and a particularly attractive looking porn star, so although I attract a lot of hits when I search for my name, thankfully there is only one that is for me.
The Australian government has started to issue warnings to teens about this possible issue and links to their information are available here http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/Teens/Tips%20and%20advice/Your%20digital%20footprint.aspx. And another interesting video to watch on your digital dossier/footprint is here http://www.teach42.com/2009/02/19/your-digital-dossier/ .
The internet and theories on internet use has labelled the generation that was born into the digital age as digital natives, and those that have instead learnt how to use the internet and technology during their lifetime as digital immigrants. It is said that once digital natives are in leadership roles the use of technology will transform the way everyone leads their lives.
As budding pr practitioners we have learnt what a powerful sword the internet is, the possibility for instantaneous communication feed about an organisation and its movements has allowed news to reach further corners then was ever imagined. It has also meant that due to the lack of time and lack of resources journalists now have at their disposal that often media releases are hitting news sites without any editing. A huge win for public relations!
However it is important to remember that the internet is a permanent digital library and catalogue of information. Deleting facebook and myspace doesn’t mean you still can’t be found. So I think it is important to be careful what is written and photographed of you then put online- as you never know who will read it in the future.
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