From a graduating PR Student: A couple of parting lessons

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“If I was down to the last dollar of my marketing budget I’d spend it on PR!”
– Bill Gates

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First Meeting of the new PURE team 2017

After 3 years of studying Web Communication and Public Relations, I’ve come to the end of my time here at Murdoch University and reflecting back, I agree with the saying that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.

As the Secretary for PURE in this brief semester, I’d like to impart a couple of lessons I learnt throughout the journey.

  1. Get an internship/volunteer/join a club
    Seriously! Even if you don’t decide to join PURE (which is great on the resume by the way), being in a club or volunteering shows you have initiative, teamwork and leadership skills.I learnt this, perhaps a little too late, but I wish I had made time to think ahead and joined PURE early on in my degree to set myself up for a stronger resume.
  2. Build your portfolio
    Having a blog, for example, to showcase your writing skills is one piece of portfolio already! Additionally, different PR campaign/presentations you do throughout your degree can also be used to buff up your resume. It showcases critical thinking and engagement with the PR world, so don’t throw away the work you’ve done and keep an archive of it because it might come in handy.
  3. Make friends, and network!
    Public relations is inherently social, so it makes sense to build those connections from early stages because your fellow classmates are people who will go out looking for the same jobs as you. Attend networking events held by PURE, make friends with different PR professionals (add them on LinkedIn!), and keep your eyes open for opportunities.

That’s about all the wisdom I have, but I do think they are very important foundations to set yourself up for the future.

In between reading Macnamara, Grunig, spitting out a heap load of 10 Point Plans, writing media releases, as well as the other stressful aspects of academic life (all the essays!) I can say that I’m truly going to miss Murdoch.

Lastly, even though it was brief, I really enjoyed my time at PURE with the most supportive and brilliant bunch of students. The feeling of accomplishment after a successful event is like no other!

All the best to future students and good luck,

Laras.

PURE AGM

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Hello and welcome to each and everyone one of Murdoch’s new PR students and to oldies, welcome back!! With a new year and new semester already in full swing it is time for PURE’s Annual General Meeting. For those who are unfamiliar with the process of an AGM fear not, as I am here to inform and hope persuade you into attending.

As part of the PURE committee we hold fortnightly meetings to organize, communicate and touch base with each other in regards to all the wonderful things we plan throughout the semester. The AGM is slightly different however, as we not only look forward to the things to come, but also reflect on what we have achieved during the previous year. This meeting is also very important as it provides students with the opportunity to join our fabulous committee.

Last year several committee members graduated and we are certainly hoping to fill the void at the coming meeting. We don’t expect you to volunteer for president (or secretary as I did last year), however becoming a committee member is thoroughly enjoyable and I can vouch for that. As a first year we can understand how daunting it can be, but is was through the PURE committee that I’ve made some great friends and learnt so much about the PR world outside of classes!

So please, even if you’re not on campus, make the effort to attend. You wont know if you like it until you try it! And I promise we don’t bite! 🙂

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