As they say ‘The world is your oyster’ and what a pearl to be completing this internship during my last semester of University. Throughout my PR degree I had always been told that work experience would provide the opportunity to experiment and pursue a career that matched my academic and personal interests - and I’ve now had the chance to discover what this really means.

Excited to enter the PR world, I began searching for internship opportunities. I completed some initial placements, but had begun to wonder if I was on the right path. Now I’ve realised it wasn’t the path, but the place - a matter of finding the ‘right’ fit. Different places offer different experiences and through these experiences an intern can discover the right destination. It is in this placement I have been able to develop strong teamwork skills balanced with exercising individual responsibility. I have been encouraged, yet I have also been given the freedom to show my initiative.

‘Knowledge is power’ and an internship offers the chance to learn and discover different areas of the industry and what interests you most. It can also be the deciding factor that best predicts if this field is something you would really be interested in pursuing as a future career choice. You would never buy a car without a test drive, and likewise, wouldn’t know if a particular career was right for you until you took it for a ‘spin’.

I could even say that my eight weeks here have taught me more about the industry than my three-year course, because nothing is quite as good as the real thing, and practical experience is just that. Experiencing the industry is a necessity. Still completing my study, I would have never thought I would have gained experience with clients notorious for their success in Australia and even around the globe – but I have.

While growing up and always thinking of the future, I knew I wanted to be involved with the media, and working with people who are as passionate as I am, who care so much for their clients and are adamant about building and protecting an organisation’s long-term reputation has confirmed every aspiration I have set for myself. Without being too cliché, I am so grateful that this experience has made clear where I want to be. It’s a great feeling to know what goals you want to achieve. I’ve taken the car for the test drive and I would definitely consider closing the deal.

- Samantha Pascoe

October 22nd, 2008  |  by spascoe Published in Public Relations

It’s a very easy admission - I am by no means an IT early adopter. If it were a foot race, I would clearly be back of the pack. But that said, I am a proud and regular Facebook user, collecting friends like blisters at the 10-kilometre mark.

And I must admit, some of my Facebook friends sometimes hurt a bit. The whole experience makes me wonder at what point does the collecting of contacts become simply numbing?

I recently was re-united with a dear, dear friend from university – too many years ago to mention - and I was grateful to Google, Facebook and the many other Internet applications that made it possible for us to re-establish our genuine friendship despite being oceans apart.

But this was an exception. More often than not, I cringe when I get a friend request from someone whose name I don’t recognise or whose image does not jog my high school memories of drinking Jack Daniels in the pitch of night on the local golf course.

Are we supposed to have the time or the inclination for this kind of online intrigue? Without guilt, I click ‘delete’.

I guess my fundamental beef is not at all against social media, but its easy access seems to invite the transmission of vacant, meaningless messages.

This frequent experience reinforces for me the basic tenet of communication – particularly when it comes to PR, pitches and press releases. What is my message? Is it consequential? Would the recipient be interested?

It may be far simpler now to reach out and communicate, but shouldn’t it be something of substance for anyone to take notice?

And as for all those old friends who are resurfacing online, I don’t mind collecting them like old runners kept in the back of the closet that I simply can’t throw away because of the memories – no matter how many new pairs I get.

- Christine Gotz

October 8th, 2008  |  by Christine Gotz Published in Online, Public Relations