COMING TO A CLOSE.
To say that this experience was invaluable is an understatement. I feel incredibly fortunate that I could do my internship through my current employer because realistically my last day won’t actually be my last day. In my last meeting with my supervisor we agreed that I would continue working very closely with the Communications & […]
Stepping up
Even the most organised and confident people can become overwhelmed when having to step up quickly, this is something we all face in our day to day lives and careers. I recently found myself having to take on a role which I didn’t think I was equipped for but much to my surprise I thrived […]
There is no better feeling then when you can cross something off your list – especially when it is a project you have been working on for a long time. Recently, I have been working on an e-magazine that my work releases quarterly called The Prospect. Most of the content centres around updating industry on what we are doing as we are quite fundamental component to Australian manufacturing and construction. To give a little context, the organisation I work for administers the Local Jobs First (LJF) policy on behalf of the Victorian Government. Essentially, what we do is analyse a projects supply chain and you can say “enforce” local commitments to industry. We then evaluate these plans called Local Industry Development Plans and if the project does not meet a certain percentage of local content (typically 90%) we then give them a harsh risk rating which then comes with all sorts of consequences. Sounds boring and tedious but I love it.
The edition I have been working on for around a month now is focused on Social Procurement. Social Procurement is when project owners use their buying power to employ disadvantage cohorts (Indigenous Australians, people living with disabilities, and more). I had to write about two social procurement tools we are about to launch. One of them I have solely developed myself (as a part of my actual role not the internship) and the other is an reporting tool to help projects and their supply chain report on their initial commitments – this ensures we can report back to Government. It’s quite an exciting edition because there has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears that have gone into the final products – not exaggerating.
To say I was excited to write about something I have invested a lot of time in and ultimately feel like a guru on the topic is an understatement. I spent about two weeks researching and another two weeks writing the two articles. I was expecting a lot of feedback and edits but to my surprise there was little to none. In my eyes, this was a massive win for me because I never thought I was even remotely good at emotive writing – let alone writing in general.
The e-magazine is set to be published on this coming Monday and you can bet I will be forwarding this onto my parents – anyone who will read it actually.
Anyway, I am really enjoying my internship and all the projects I get to work on. More importantly, I get to learn from Kate West who is our Marketing and Communications Manger – the whole experience has been so valuable for my professional growth. Thank you Kate for being a wealth of knowledge.
DEADlines…
Let’s talk about deadlines. We all have them, some more than others but that doesn’t matter because we all live through the stress of them. It’s definitely a love, hate relationship. However, that relationship can be more hate if you don’t prioritise and organise yourself. I have never really struggled with meeting my own deadlines because I work best under pressure but I see a lot of my colleagues break under the pressure. I believe this can influence by the following variables:
- The mentality to only just meet your deadline
- Poor prioritisation skills – not really knowing what is more important and what might take more time than anticipated
- Deviating off your schedule
- Distractions
- and lastly, not asking for help quick enough.
Now these are all variables that need to be controlled in order to successfully keep on track and achieve the task set out. I won’t go into detail about how to overcome each hurdle but I will leave you with some incredibly valuable knowledge (which I received from my predecessor) that has changed the way I look at everything I do – even in my personal life.
Under promise. Over deliver.
I promise if you live by this mentality – you will have a better time delivering on your deadlines.