EN3511 Internship : Progress Report

It’s already halfway through the internship, I am really grateful that my company took me as an intern and part of the team. I am also very happy to be able to work as a Public Relations officer. I want to share my experience with you by typing my feelings and include some photos!

I still remember the first time I approached this company. I looked at job advertisement and I think “No, this seem a little bit too good for me. How can I work for Public Relations when I know nothing about it?” and I looked again and said to myself “I am going to work for internship this summer and I am going to learn. By taking a role I have never done before is just great! I should at least give it a try!” So I asked my friends and do some research about what PR is like and wrote a cover letter to the company. When I sent the email, I was still in Australia for the exchange studies so I was quite worried that they will hold the interview soon in Hong Kong. After about a week, I got an email from them saying they would like to meet me for an interview. “I couldn't believe it, I feel really excited but at the same time a little bit worried. Feeling excited because they offer me an interview but the problem is I am not physically in Hong Kong. I asked them is it possible to have a Skype interview? They said yes and it went quite well and they would like to see me when I go back to Hong Kong. Just talk about some more details about the job.

My seat at the office :)

Then it comes to my first working day, I can still remember how nervous I was. I have no idea what their expectation is. Also, what I can achieve and do for the company? I just took a deep breath and walk in the office door. “Good morning everyone, I am the new intern and I am going to start working today. Can I talk to Candice?” Candice is my supervisor, she is the one that take care of me all the time and she is really nice and smart. She always has something to teach me, from work, life and even driving a car. The first thing she said to me is “Welcome to the team, girl” She shown me my seat and introduced me to everyone. I feel a little bit nervous but she made me feel like I am in a big family now, not an outsider. As soon as I sit down on my seat and look around. She came to me and said “We would like to have lunch with you this afternoon, do you want to go?” I said yes and we went for lunch and chat a little bit with each other; I know more about the company and everyone. My coworkers are so nice to me, they treat me like a “little girl” in the team.

Welcome Lunch with coworkers <3

We went back to the office, she told me “we are going to give you a company email address and we are going to print you a business card” I thought that’s really amazing, I am going to have my first business card ever. I realize that's the business world! everything is serious and this new business card represents me and the company. This also show me they really take me as part of the team and give me respect. So the next day I got my own business card for the first time in my life. My boss told me I will be given real tasks just like other full time staff. You are now working for the company and have your own business card to represent you and the company. We will not treat you like an intern, we will treat you like other staff. I feel so different about working for this company and feel really respected. They didn't just let me sit in office and do trivial office work. Instead, they believe I have the ability to actually work. Because of this, I told myself I will try my best to finish every task. Also, having my own business card makes me feel a lot more confident because I am now a representative of the company and I am not just an intern that spend time in the company for two months.

My first box of business card ever!

After this, Candice talked about the latest project – arts and culture events in Social Media Week. SMW is sponsored by Nokia and we have to work with another company called Impact Asia. I feel really excited to be involved in something corporate and I love events cause I can talk to other people. I feel like this is a dream come true, I am finally working for the first time, for professional job like other people. My role is to visit different galleries and talk to the owners about the plan for the real event. We have two different events for the social media week, one of them involved 5 senses and another one is about traditional antique art. So I followed the team and went to all the galleries and talk to them about the plan on the event day and what we need from them. The event is very educational, there are five different galleries. They all have something special to offer in their galleries. So we just have to make sure the promotional flyers and posters are put on the right place. I have to walk to all the galleries on my own and explain what they have to do. The event went out well and a lot of people just walk in to the event on the day. I talked to a lot of people and learned how to approach people and hand out my business card. I changed from being really shy to people I don't know to a more confident person.

Photos from the event at SMW

And I feel special for being in the company because just really few people can speak Cantonese. I think I am the only Cantonese-speaking staff in my team. Sometimes, when they have to order something from the local shops or to contact some local companies, I became really “useful”. And because other people don’t speak Cantonese, I am forced to use English all the time. No matter about work or just chatting. I learned a lot from them by using English every day and incorporated into my life. I think my English has been improved and I learned how to use English at the workplace and different rules and implications. I am really grateful to be included in the team and because a few staff from the company is Dutch, so we were celebrating the Dutch national day - Bevrijdingsdag. We have a party at the rooftop of the building and have Dutch cheese and other food. They taught me a few Dutch words as well. It was really fun to have some interactions with coworkers outside of work.

Outside of work, my supervisor always take me to different events with her so I can relax and also learn something from other people. We went to the Louis Vutton Art tour at Tsim Sha Tsui. The docent was really nice and show us around inside the flagship store of Louis Vutton and there is an art corner inside displayed different artwork from time to time. That time we were looking at a French artist abstract art, this is before the social media week event. I learned a lot about how to introduce the artwork and how to talk to other people confidently.