- Set up an events calendar for the company’s cooperate department (as I was working in this department during my work experience)
- Look for future possible clients
- Write a blog on Florentijn Hofman’s yellow duck
What was something that happened that you were prepared for because you expected it to happen? I expected to be given work that I didn’t completely understand the full concept under as neither of my parents or relatives work in the PR management firm and therefore I didn’t have a clear understanding of the field before my work experience.
However, I got through this difficulty by either thinking hard about it or asking one of the people I was working with. They were very friendly and supportive and therefore I was given a clear explanation of my task immediately, which was extremely helpful as it enabled me to understand the task better.
What was something that happened that you were not prepared for because you had not expected it? I expected to be extremely busy and stressed due to the workload however this was the complete opposite.
I was well prepared for this as I’m used to it when I have a lot of homework to given in at school. However, over the week, I was very surprised with the amount of work I was given. This company didn’t seem to have a lot of work for me to do and therefore, during some periods of time, I didn’t have any work to do but luckily I had my work experience booklet for me to do which prevented me from getting bored. I believe the reasons for me not having enough work to do is because the department that I was working for were extremely busy during that week as they had many deadline to make.
Reflection
Through my work experience, I was given a great of experiencing the working life. This is not only through the week but also before my actual work experience as I had to write formal application letters as well as a resume and although I’ve had an internship previously, I never had to write one as it was a family friend and therefore wasn’t nearly as formal. Additionally I realized the many differences that existed between school life and work life as everyone is much more serious in the working world since they have to work hard in order to receive a salary which is high enough to fulfill the things they have to do such as raise a family.
Moreover, my confidence, communication and teamwork developed by a lot as throughout the week, I had to work with several people. I also impressed my employer with my formal letter writing skills which made them accept me, impressed my employer with my charm, enthusiasm and hard-working attitude during my placement, put my communication and confidence skills when I worked with the people at my work placement, was organized as I finished everything that I was told to do and brought all the necessary items and was confident as I always asked questions if I wasn’t sure about the task that I was given.
Work Experience Background
The company that I worked for during work experience is situated in The Broadway, 54-62 Lockhart Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong. They are a Public Relations Management firm and it’s their job to make sure that their clients are guided through the traditional and social media so that their business goals are achieved. I chose this placement, as I wanted to open up my choices for my possible career paths in the future as I haven’t finalized what I want to do in the future and PR Management was one of the few jobs that I didn’t understand at all but still interested me. The same situation applied for banking however I chose not to work for a bank as I have relatives who work in banks and they told me that I wouldn’t be able to understand the concepts well due to my young age.
Work Experience Task
During my work experience week, I was given a total of four tasks that I had to complete. Although I was slightly confused with some of these tasks in the beginning, once I asked for a clearer and simpler explanation, there were fairly easy to complete. The two tasks I enjoyed the least was the events calendar and helping the company to look for possible future clients. The events calendar that I had to create was a calendar that dated the events that the cooperate department could attend in order to find more contacts and/or more clients. These events included things that were only for people working in the PR firm as well as those who are in the financial field. This task was something that I didn’t enjoy very much as there weren’t many events that could easily be found through the Internet and clear details weren’t given if they were found and therefore it couldn’t be determined if the event was suitable for the purpose of the cooperate department of Racepoint Group.
I didn’t really enjoy looking for possible future clients either as I used twitter to do this and since I don’t have a twitter account, in the beginning, I wasn’t sure how to use it however as I repeatedly did this, I got used to it. The main reason why I didn’t enjoy it was because the clients that they were looking for had to have something to do with healthcare and China. This was very difficult to find as not many people use Twitter in China and therefore it was hard to find clients. The task that I really enjoyed and was most proud of was writing a blog about the yellow duck, which attracted a lot of the Hong Kong’s public. I found this very interesting as although I knew about the yellow duck, I didn’t know any background information about it, the purpose of it or the reaction of the public towards it and by writing this blog, I found out all this information. I was extremely published with this blog that I wrote as the person who assigned me this task published it onto a website which has never happened to me before.
Work Experience Lessons
From this work experience, I’ve realized that I probably won’t be taking up this career in the future as although I did enjoy it, I don’t believe I enjoyed it enough to pursue it as my future career. Since I really enjoy learning about economics and mathematics in school, I believe that in the future, my career will be solely based on these subjects, which could possibly be banking. The working life in this area also seemed quite dull as it was extremely quiet and throughout the day, everyone was either on a computer, at their desk, working or in a meeting which I don’t believe I will able to do throughout my career.
Knowledge Gained from Work Experience
No doubt I learned a lot about the PR Management field. Through this work experience week, I now have a much clearer understanding of the field, unlike before the job. My communication skills between adults and myself has also massively improved as besides from my parents and relatives, I don’t have long conversations with adults on a daily basis. My confidence has also improved, as I’m more comfortable in finding out how to do my given tasks by myself. I’ve also experienced working in the working world such as what the atmosphere is like and the sort of people you may meet.
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