Exceeding Expectations

We all went into our internships knowing what the overall aim was - being to develop our professional skills and prepare us for a career in the 'real world'. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that the experience has done more than improve our skills, but instead has improved our  overall confidence in a way that never would have been possible in-side a classroom.

Granted we do work in teams for assignments, and we know how to interpret a brief and work toward an end product or goal. But the variety of jobs we undertook and the initiative we had no choice but to develop and use showed us that, combined with the theoretical knowledge we gained during our studies, we are more capable than we thought. 

Jobs I had never done before, and as such had no plan to follow or experience to derive information from, forced me to think critically, research, analyse and formulate a working style that allowed me to get the job done. For example writing for someone other than myself was challenging,  but had I never done so before entering the workforce, I wouldn't have developed the skills or work ethic that are now so valuable to me.

Some days I would come into the workplace and my supervisor would have new jobs for me that hadn't been previously set out in my brief, forcing me to think on my feet and work effectively - previously a weakness of mine. 

Working on jobs outside my industry or typical job description also helped me feel confident taking on jobs I wasn't normally used to or comfortable with. E.g. researching/tracking down tech equipment for the business and photography.

And of course no internship would be complete without its fair share of 'crappy jobs' as my supervisor liked to call them - which included invoicing for two of her three businesses. 

Interning definitely exceeded my expectations and benefited me in more ways than I anticipated, how about you?

Thanks for reading!

Bianca

The Search for The One

Credit: Anna Ginsburg (http://annaginsburg.tumblr.com/)

People often say applying for an internship is difficult, however I found the search for the type of internship the hardest part. In my first blog post, I wanted to share my experience with the processes involved in finding the right internship.

After interning around town and figuring out what I don’t want to be doing after graduation, the search for the industry I wanted to try next was proving a very hard task. With a PR degree there are so many options! From media advising in politics, to events management in fashion, and strategic planning for the government – the possibilities are endless.

The great thing about interning is that you can try out different fields (with little risk) and see where your interests lie.

After months of consideration (and probably procrastination and some help from this Tedx Talk), a couple of days before semester started I decided on the arts for my industry placement, and narrowed it down to performing arts. It gave me a lot more motivation once I figured out what I truly wanted to pursue.

I researched a little online, but figured that I wanted to work at an organisation that is less well-known in Perth.

With my interest in contemporary dance and the not-for-profit sector, I called up my organisation and asked whether they took on interns (knowing that an admin person usually answers and the standard response is “email us your CV”). In the email that went along with my CV, I pitched myself in a brief summary of my skills and exactly what I wanted from an internship with them, and didn’t beat around the bush.

I think a good tip is to research an organisation and kind of figure out what area they are potentially lacking in, and try and sell yourself for a position that would help with that, as they’ve probably realised they need help in that area too.

Anyway, discussing my role with the executive director was really interesting and has shown me that a lot of people see PR and marketing as the same thing (Maybe I should have shown him this) . It was good to clearly talk about my role beforehand and confirm exactly what I can bring to the organisation, what they can do for me and projects I would be working on within the PR department.  

Maybe you had a completely different process of going about finding your internship? Let me know in the comments! This is just some food for thought for future PR industry placement students, which I hope is helpful for the initial stages of finding somewhere to get experience.

Tl;dr: Don’t be discouraged if you don’t exactly know where you want to go, take time to figure out what interests you, research the industry and pitch yourself.  

- Aimee

Cue Reality Check

To say that I have been thrown in the deep end would be an understatement.

But it's not the workload that has me shook, nor is it the environment I find myself in each week. It is instead what I have discovered about myself just four weeks into my placement with Mikayla and my two intern buddies; I have learnt more about myself than ever.

Working at a boutique consultancy and for Mikayla’s own businesses I have been given an invaluable insight into what is actually involved in not only running your own business, but an in-depth knowledge of what PR involves in a ‘real world’ situation.

Aside from what I’m quickly learning about the industry, my placement has also forced me to learn a lot about myself and how I operate in a professional environment after 2.5 years in a classroom environment. The most standout realisation is that I have some serious time management issues, something that I once thought was a strength of mine. This realisation meant a not so productive first two weeks and resulted in only productive weeks from then on, which I can appreciate as it meant I had no choice but to focus, re-evaluate my work habits and make some changes for the long-term.

The dynamic in our workspace is more relaxed than a typical professional environment which means Mikayla is able to work alongside us as more of a mentor and relay her experiences as a Marketing/PR professional which has been invaluable. Her emphasis on the importance of both social media and organisation have helped influences decisions I make while working with her, and everything social-media related we’ve learned from Curtin is starting to make sense to me now. No wonder every assignment involved a social media aspect or we took a unit dedicated to the use of different social media platforms (Transmedia Storytelling).

I’m eager to continue my internship and see more of what I’ve learned in theory come to life in front of me as PR in the ‘real world’. 

See attached: our very cute, very authentic workspace decor. One of Mikayla's brands Broadspace is a communal workspace which is currently where we work. 

The first Daunting Deadline!

The first week is down and it’s been the most challenging, exhausting, rewarding and fun week. It has also been a learning curve, one that I'm happy to ride along.

On my first day I was extremely nervous to start. Living an hour from my internship, it was daunting working out pubic transport times and stops to make sure I was early. Arriving at the building and catching the elevator to the second level my heart started to race. However as the doors dinged open my nerves disappeared when I seen the receptionist.

The receptionist turned out to be my friend from university who was recently hired and will be making her way up in the organisation to a consultant. Having that familiar face made all the nerves, racing heart and worries disappear.

Throughout the week I was introduced to so many great workers who range in roles from senior account executives, account managers, senior accountants, junior accounts and PR assistants. The atmosphere in the building is great everyone is happy and willing to have a chat, as well as dedicated hard workers.

Having a helpful, friendly team has been a bonus with correcting my writing. I was given the task to change a release for the ASX into a more easy to read article for a newspaper with a deadline of 2 hours. Being my second day I was definitely feeling the nerves. This article wasn’t going to a tutor to mark it was going to a real life paper to be published and that was daunting. However every one was extremely helpful with improvements and encouraging with what I had produced.

Although the article was still edited and cut down by my colleague, he said it was a great first go. Following this my colleague sent me an article a day to do for three days and with each one improving, by the last one i wrote there barely any editing or changes were made. Practice makes perfect!

I am looking forward to the next week and improving my skills. I can’t wait to see what is in store for next week after this very busy and super fun week. 

Chelsea :)

End is Near

If it's one thing I could tell future students when completing their final internship placement is to not stress. Stress does nothing postive for you and I would know from personal experience. At first when I heard we had to complete an Internship Placement, I was not too happy. But after my experience, I am glad that we did. It was one of the greatest experiences I got to partake in, meeting new people, gaining professional experience and learning on the job.

If I could go back in time, I think one thing I would change is to complete more internships but in a varierty of industry's, allowing for myself to gain the knowledge and understanding of that industry and how it varied to the education industry which I completed my time in. Upon the start of my internship and starting this unit, I wish someone could have told me a few tips or secret pieces of advice. So intead I'm going to give you some.

1. Don't Stress
2. There is no need to be nervous or anxious about partaking in the internship placement. It's one of the most rewarding and educational experiences you get to do.
3. Start looking for a placement early. The public relations sector is increasingly growing in competiveness for jobs. To avoid last minute worry, I suggest looking for a placement early on.
4. Start your report early, because let's be honest, no one loves pulling all nighters
5. Even if you don't get placed in an internship that's not your passion, it is still rewarding and can open up your eyes to so much more.
6. You will learn so much more than what you learn at university, and what you learnt at univeristy, you will get to put into everyday practice. On the job learning, has got to be one of the best things!
7. Have fun!

What would be your pieces of advice?

Back to School

Being in your final year of university, you would never ever imagine in your wildest dreams that you would be going back to high school. But for me, I somehow managed to be back there and even the high school I attended myself, Mercedes College.

Being back at school brings a sense of euphoria, remembering how young you were and you had your whole life ahead of you. I knew nothing about where I would be at 21, let alone what I would go onto study. I had my passions and keen interests of drama and media, and thinking about it now they tie perfectly in with a Public Relations degree and effectively communicating

As part of my internship placement, I was offered a role in the Community Relations office at Mercedes College alongside two other ladies, Julie and Tanya.  The Community Relations focuses on both Public Relations and Marketing and opened my eyes up to how effective and important Public Relations can be in a school. I’m sure half of you wouldn’t even think a school would need a PR team or what would they do, but surprisingly a lot goes on. From the organisation of major events, internal communication and communication with stakeholders, alumni events and relations, the production of a College magazine, data entry, managing phone calls and emails, my schedule was kept extremely busy.

Out of everything I got to do, my favourite thing would have to be liaising with Alumni and assisting in the organisation of reunions. As I am Alumni of Mercedes College myself, I felt a connection with every single Alumni I interacted with, no matter how old they were. I think that is something special Mercedes holds with its students, whether they are past or current, there always seems to be that ongoing connection and sense of belonging.

I am incredibly grateful for my experience at the College, all the work I got to participate in and the staff I got to call my colleagues. It was only today that I found out I have been offered a position in the Community Relations Office full time next year after I graduate, and I can’t wait to see what I can bring to the office and school. 

Back when I was 14 and had no idea what I would be doing after school

Looking within and beyond!

Internal communications is of upmost importance during a time of change within an organisation; effective communication at all levels ensures employees are familiar with organisational strategic imperatives and that they have the information required to perform effectively in their roles in support of these changes.

In the beginning of the year, the Australian arm that operated international denim brand G-Star Raw known as Denim Enterprises (DE) entered voluntary administration. Across Australia, DE operated 21 mono brand stores and had approximately 200 staff within their business. Although stores functioned as per usual, on an internal level there was apparent disruption in communication during the handover to the administrators, and subsequently to new partners.

However by providing constant communication to the employees during the administration through the use of formal tools such as 'RAW news', the company's weekly newsletter, and top down communication from state managers to part-time associates, a sense of community was formed and more than 80% of the employees stayed on. In the next couple of months, G-Star Raw acted upon the change and took it upon themselves to continue to operate the Australian stores; similarly G-Star approached Denim HQ (the company I work for) to run the WA stores. To sustain the change and continue building relationships with its employees by encouraging a sense of community, they recently conducted the first of a series of training nights around the country. During my last days as an intern with DHQ, I was fortunate enough to attend one of these trainings and witness how the company has managed the change through communication points.

These points were:

1. Background of G-Star Raw in Australia and changes during administration
2. New operational teams and points of contacts
3. Communication points to convey to customers
4. PR and media campaigns
5. New products
6. Q & A

Denim HQ training night with G-Star representatives

Therefore it is with great sadness that my time as an intern with DHQ has come to an end, however nonetheless I am grateful for all that I have learned with this start-up company and incredible brand. Until next time! 

Kim 

Keeping WA moving through communication!

Welcome to my blog. I am Caris Dinardo, and this is where I will be sharing my opinions and experiences as a Public Relations Intern at Main Roads.

When undertaking an internship you’re not quite sure what to expect. Whether you will be successful, whether you will learn from others or whether you will be misused as a coffee assistant.

Luckily for me my Public Relations internship at Main Roads Western Australia has allowed me to have a greater insight into the Public Relations world. My first day quickly made me realise that our tutors weren’t lying, communication really is everything.

When going for this Internship I was asked by my supervisor which areas I was interested in working in. Coming to the end of my degree, I’m still unfortunately not aware of what areas in PR I feel most passionate about, but I am a firm believer in the importance of experience and asked to be put in any area that would have me.

So for my first day I was put in the Customer Information Centre. My day started off normally, meeting all the employees, being welcomed to the team and going out for coffee. Automatically I knew I would fit in well because of the amazing work culture Main Roads have created.

I was given the chance to work alongside the manager to see what her daily tasks involved. Checking emails every 5 minutes, dealing with complaints about road closures, traffic complaints, fault reports and the list went on… The phone was constantly ringing and not one call went through to voicemail. The Customer Information Centre team plays an important role in communication with stakeholders, as they are the first on duty to contact for any emergencies or general queries.

Now for the interesting stuff:

As a team, they are hugely important in crisis management. Without their input or communication, stakeholders would struggle to find out important information as they are constantly being communicated through website updates and social media updates.

Unfortunately, on my first day there was a crash  that had 3 fatalities in Geraldton. I witnessed first hand the importance communication plays in crisis management, as the team were constantly ringing the media, the Main Roads team and sharing posts to make sure the effected publics were aware of any delays and the full story of what exactly had happened.

By the afternoon, the team had also had to deal with a possible fire outbreak in the Southern suburbs. Through constant updates on their Twitter sites (which has over 400,000 followers) and phoning media outlets the Main Roads Call Information Centre team were able to alert the community of the possible fire outbreak. Fortunately, I was able to contribute to several Twitter posts which made the public aware of nearby crashes. This was great to finally see how important the role of social media plays when organisations regularly communicate to stakeholders.

Main Roads have recently changed their corporate brand and logo to the focus of ‘Keep WA Moving.’ My experience within the first day made me realise that communication plays a huge role of ‘Keeping WA Moving’ as they are constantly communicating to stakeholders to make them aware of what is happening on Western Australia’s roads.

It was only my first day and it was an eye opening experience. Throughout University I have studied different Public Relations theories. But seeing those theories in the real world made me realise how important communication is to successfully develop strong relationships with stakeholders. Another outtake would be the importance of having a team that is aware of what to do in crises, as the steps you take in those situations are extremely important.

I am thankful to have this opportunity and to be undertaking this Internship at Main Roads. This is only day one and I can’t wait to gain more insight into what they do.

How were all my fellow interns first days?

Until next time,

Caris Dinardo.