Handing Down the Baton
Yesterday marked the last day of my internship and as relieved as I am to have finished just in time for university starting up again, I can’t help but feel sad to finish at District32. All I remember at the beginning of my placement was how out of my depth I felt and how little I trusted the skills and knowledge I had curated over the years at university. Now six weeks later, I am confident that the work I am completing is of a high standard and exactly what my team is looking for.
My biggest issue during my time at Distirct32 was a constant need for reassurance that I was on the right track. I have learnt that this is a habit I need to break as in the real world, in most positions, there is no time for constant feedback, you just need to have the confidence to know that you are doing a good job. On top of that you need to have the ability to assess and critique your own work, knowing in which areas are well done and which areas need improvement. This is the reality of leaving university. Our tutors, lecturers and supervisors will be handing over the baton, letting us enter and experience the working industry for ourselves. Daunting but exhilarating!
In my last week I have really explored the different functions on Canva, creating a video that will act as a promotion video for District32. It has tested my understanding of the business (something that will be useful when I pull together my infographic), expanded my creative abilities and increased my skills on a very useful platform. Tasks such as these are the reason that I have really developed new skills that will be incredibly valuable in the industry.
Other tasks such as curating social media plans and interviewing the team to gain expert insight for a news article have helped increase my experience in communication and PR processes. I have learnt that business people are just people and value your input no matter how little or how much experience you have.
Overall, finishing up with District32 has been an incredibly valuable experience that has made me feel that little bit more prepared to enter the work force. I have learnt to adapt to working from home, improved my professional communication skills both to team members and clients, and pulled together a solid set of new skills to put on my resume. What else could you ask for from an internship? There is even potential for me to continue working on a casual basis with District32 in a paid position!
Final Tip of the Day
Believe in yourself! You have been studying PR for at least two years, you know your stuff. Now it’s time for you to go impress whoever you are working for and show off what you can do. You wouldn’t be here if you couldn’t do it, so have the confidence in your abilities and trust yourself. Continue to work hard and you will go far.
That’s it from me, good luck to everyone still completing their placements.
Interviews are Super Scary Until You Actually Do Them
This week has been great as I’ve been given old tasks to do again as well as new tasks to learn from and a whole new project to start. I’m repeating newly learnt skills such as creating social media plans for different clients, which is really helping me hone my research, planning and creative skills.
However, I had to do an interview this week for my new project and for some reason I was quite nervous. I think once again I was overthinking the whole ‘big bad scary business-person’ persona that I have given to anyone in the working industry. But once I started the interview, I once again came to the realisation that all working people are just regular people who have jobs. I think I’ve finally learnt that despite the disparity in experience, we as graduating university students are just as qualified and prepared to be fully working people. During the interview and straight after I realised that interviews are in fact not that scary at all. The whole time I had Veronica’s voice in my head telling me how to act in an interview as we learnt in PR Planning and Evaluation.
One thing I’ve realised during my placement is that every day is different in the world of PR. As most of the work is project and task based, some days you might be cruising with plenty of time on your hands to get things done, and others you feel like there is no time at all to get anything done. My past week has definitely felt this way! Starting with a small list of tasks to a monster list, I had to understand that sometimes you can’t get absolutely everything done and so I had to learn how to prioritise and manage my time appropriately. Now I know that when you have lots of time you should try your best to anticipate what is coming next and start preparing earlier on to save yourself in the future.
Tip of the Day
Watch module 5 BEFORE you start your placement! There are some really great videos and pieces of advice on how to manage your time better and how to maximise your productivity. Super useful!
Until next time
Leaving the Home Office
Over the past few weeks I have been fully immersed into the PR team of District32, getting an inside perspective of how their team runs. Finally stepping out of my home office, both physically and figuratively, I have been exposed to different challenges and tasks that have given me experience and increased my capabilities in a PR role.
Joining my supervisor to meet up with one of the organisations’ sponsors was a really good experience to understand that the big wide industry is not as scary as it seems. Over dressed and very nervous I finally had the opportunity to meet my supervisor and meet one of District32’s members in person. We met up to conduct an interview with a representative of the sponsor to pull together a promotion video and I got an insight into what District32 audiences are engaging with. Walking around the city whilst offices were still closed during quarantine was like walking through a ghost town, however, it did make the whole environment less intimidating. After meeting with a real-life client of whom was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, it has finally sunk in that business workers are just people too, and just because I am only a university student, it does not make my input or knowledge any less valuable.
Tip of the Day
Being over dressed is never a bad thing. At first you might feel slightly embarrassed, but first impressions are super important. Presenting yourself in a professional manner, no matter the environment can’t hurt but only help you.
One task I have really enjoyed during my placement is communicating with clients directly. Asking questions and researching their business to understand what they want from us and how they want their business to be portrayed. It has been great practice working to understand the ‘why’ of other organisations as it helps bring up questions of what District32’s ‘why’ might be and how we can fine tune it. I think this is an invaluable concept to figure out as we have learnt in Transmedia Storytelling.
I have truly started improve my skills and creativity on Canva and learning different ways to catch an audience’s attention on different social media platforms. Pulling together social media plans and following deadlines are typical tasks of a PR role and to be honest, as easy as it sounds, before my placement I didn’t actually know how to put together a full plan, schedule posts and monitor response. But now I do!
As part of the workshops District32 holds for their members, one of the tasks I have been given is pulling together short educational presentations for one of the leaders to present. I have been asked to pull together a presentation on PR strategies and why small businesses should consider how to implement them in their business plans. This task is really helping me review what I’ve learnt and create a short, to-the-point presentation that summarises the whole PR degree. Challenging but super useful.
Until next time
The Training Wheels are Officially Off!
This week I started my placement at District32 a small networking organisation, working the first three days of the week. Working for a real organisation without the guidance of a tutor or lecturer definitely feels like the training wheels are off and I’m left to pedal on my own… daunting but exciting!
I didn’t think I would have learned so much already but reflecting back on the activities I was asked to complete this week, I can already see where my university education and practical application have come together.
For the first week, my supervisor mainly asked me to research the organisation from an external perspective. Analysing their brand presence on social media, website and other communication channels and trying to understand the organisation without any previous insight. At first, I was quite lost not really knowing where to start, but once I dove in and just begun putting into place the research techniques I had learnt in PR Planning and Evaluation, I’ve started to gain a good understanding of the organisation. It has also provided me with the opportunity to evaluate where there are holes in their communication and where there are opportunities to implement new PR strategies.
Being a small organisation, District32 has a bigger marketing focus and little PR practice in place and so I am excited to see how using a PR perspective, I can work with the communication team. I have been asked to research PR tools that the organisation could start to use such as blogging websites and platforms and communication tactics such as backlinks which has really opened my eyes to all the useful tools available to PR practitioners.
My homemade work desk
The one challenge I have found starting my placement has been working from home. I have great support from my supervisor and her assistant, however working from home, I have felt like I’m on my own at times. I think this will be a challenge the whole way through the placement, but it is good experience and something important to work through as many industry jobs have transitioned to purely online and ‘work from home’ environments.
Tip of the Day
If anyone else is struggling I have found that dressing professionally as if you are going into an office helps motivate me in the morning and reminds me to remain professional throughout the day even though I’m in the comfort of my own home.
Despite the nerves I’m still trying to settle, I am eager to see how this internship will unfold and excited to jump in head-first and learn what I can in the upcoming weeks. Once the training wheels are off you can’t put them back on, and so there is nothing I can do but keep pedaling forward.
Until next time