Internship

Nearing the end of my studies, I have been looking into what the market has to offer.  It seems like competition is going to be tough.  The criteria set by many prospective employers are various and demanding.  However, I am up for the challenge.  Almost everybody wants 3 to 5 years of experience.  Although that might be a difficult hurdle to overcome, I am still confident that somebody would value my particular set of skills.  However, the next "requirement" is the one that totally takes the wind out of my sails, every time :

Please note that this position is an unpaid internship.

I discussed this issue with some of my (younger) classmates and even tutors.  The consensus was that it is simply expected in today's marketplace and a quick search on the net provided a range of articles highlighting the benefits of unpaid internship. However, this trend still does not sit well with me.

Why unpaid internship is not such a good idea

  You have accumulated a massive financial debt in acquiring the knowledge needed to perform a certain
job.  In my eyes taking on a position like this is short selling yourself, your potential and your degree.  Some argue that this time is valuable for you to learn how an office operate.  Guess what?  If you are hardworking and clever enough to earn a degree, you will be able to grasp that in no time.

  No employee at a fast food chain or an apprentice is expected to work for free, why should graduates?  These positions require you to attend meetings and operate in a professional environment.  Surely you would have to adhere to a certain dress code and use transport to get to and from work.  How is an unpaid worker suppose to afford it?

 

The fact is that in most cases it is NOT experience that is on offer, but exploitation.  Know your rights! 

 Unpaid internship is actually illegal in Australia.  

University of Adelaide professor of law Andrew Stewart is one of the authors of a report released by Fair Work on this issue.  He summarizes the issue as follows:

"It's clear from the Fair Work Act that if you are doing work experience as part of an authorised educational training course, then that's perfectly OK.  Outside that, if you've got a pretty firm agreement with your employer and it doesn't have to be in writing to come into work and to get something in return and that might be just experience or being able to add to your resume, your CV, that is capable at law of amounting to an employment contract, [you] therefore should be paid at least the minimum wage."

Where to start when you need to write a speech

As communication professional it will be expected of you to write a speech from time to time.  Speeches are great tools to put a personal face on an organisation.  Your message will be delivered in a more persuasive way than through advertising.  It is also an effective way to build up the organisation's profile.

However, as anybody who has suffered through a bad speech will tell you, words alone won't cut it.  In order to make a speech effective, you as writer must take into account the speaker's demeanour, dress, body language, formality of the event and the support materials.

Research

Before you even contemplate writing a speech, do your homework.  Find out what the purpose of this speech is - entertainment, motivation, crisis management?  You also need to know the education level and likely attitude of the audience towards the topic.  In addition, you will need to research the organisation's previous stance on the topic.  Consistency aids credibility.  Lastly, you need to focus on the speaker.  What is the speaker's style?  Would long or short sentences suit this speaker?  

Now write the speech

A good speech consists of an introduction, a body and a conclusion.  The speaker needs to grab the audience's attention during the introduction by hinting what they will gain by listening to his speech.  The body of the speech contains the arguments.  It will be worthwhile to provide the occasional glimpse of the structure of the speech.  Conclude by summarizing and providing a clear call to action.

 

You cannot control social media

Almost every marketer and media person out there recommend that businesses should engage with their public on social media.  We find ourselves engaged in a new game on a new field with new rules.  There has been a definite power shift towards to the consumer.  Just being represented on the various social media is no longer acceptable.  Oh no, the modern consumer demands meaningful interaction, transparency, news about products without the hard sell techniques, choices ... in short, value.

Social media campaigns can change destinies when successful, however, they can also cause immense damage to companies.  The most important fact to remember is that social cannot be controlled.  You certainly need to monitor and react swiftly when things go wrong.  But, customers have their own view and are definitely not afraid to voice it.

Planning a social media campaign carefully is therefore of the utmost importance.  You really need to think outside the box to anticipate all possible reactions.  Let's look for example at JPMorgan's failed Twitter PR stunt.

JPMorgan announced with great fanfare that Jimmy Lee, the company's vice chairman, would answer questions.  Very quickly the company's Twitter account was flooded with sarcastic questions clearly showcasing displeasure with the company on a very big scale.  Unable to rectify the situation, JPMorgan canceled the conversation.

It is almost impossible to believe that the company could be so naive and clueless about public sentiment towards it.  The company has reached a $13 billion settlement with the Department of Justice for bundling up and selling toxic mortgages to unsuspecting investors.

Where do you draw the line?

The Sydney Morning Herald reported this morning that Facebook has lifted its temporary ban on content featuring graphic violence.  You will now be able to view decapitation videos on Facebook.

How do they justify this?
You will be able to post videos or pictures depicting graphic violence as long as you condemn these acts rather than celebrate them.  I am somewhat torn in two about this.  On the one hand I believe that we should not shelter ourselves from violence and acts against humanity that occur worldwide.  If we are not confronted by these brutal images, we cannot fully grasp the impact.  It is as if we have read about it in a book, it simply is not real.

Yet, I wonder: how does viewing these images affect us?   As adults we assume that we will be able to handle it, but it seems that that notion is wrong.

According to a recent study published in Psychological Science, by UC Irvine, frequent exposure to violent images from the Iraq War and the September 11th attacks increases the risk of psychological and physical ailments in U.S. adults

So if we are struggling, what about our children?  I know some people will respond immediately that children are not suppose to be on Facebook.  You have to be older than 13 to legally be on Facebook.

But guess what?  13+ is still very much a child!  Where do we draw the line?  How much exposure is needed to bring home the message?  What are the results that these images aim to achieve?  Shock, outrage, revenge?  How will you know whether viewers condemn or celebrate these images?  What about the dignity of the deceased person, aren't we just continuing to exploit this person's pain/humiliation?

Clearly I have more questions than answers/opinions.  However, there is one little thing that is really bugging me:  if it is acceptable to show decapitation, then surely it must be OK to show women breastfeeding?  Why is a female's nipple deemed inappropriate and offensive (not the case when it belongs to a male), but the depiction of violence is acceptable (as long as you condemn it of course).

Seriously Facebook, this logic simply does not add up.

Why are we so obsessed with numbers?

Social media revolves around interaction and this interaction is displayed rather deceptively through  numbers.  There are plenty of Facebook pages with an astounding number of likes, yet with very little interaction.

Is there any advantage in obtaining 'likes'?

Absolutely!  Likes will get your brand to the top of search engines and thus increase your online visibility. The amount of likes also increases your online credibility.  People are more likely to follow, like or listen to you when you have an impressive number of fans already.

However, according to Brian Moran (get10000fans.com/facebook ) you should not invest too much of your time worrying about fans.  Brian states that fans don't buy from you, customers do.  He points out that people often say that Facebook is useless for businesses because they focus only on creating fans.  We get so caught up in the frenzy of trying to increase the number of likes on our pages, that we forget the number one rule in business.

The number one rule in business is to attract paying customers.

Facebook is merely the first step in a process.  A very important step, but not the end goal.  People have already shown some kind of trust in your business by liking it.  For you to turn these fans into customers, you need to engage with them outside of Facebook.  Do yourself a favour and allow Scott from get10000fans to adjust your focus :-

 

Money or exposure?

What are your skills worth?  The answer to this question very much depends on whom you ask.  Looking at the cost of tertiary education you would certainly place a very high value on education and skill.  However, when you look at a new trend in the workplace, it seems that education, skills and experience have lost their monetary value.

I am referring to the alarming rate of jobs being advertised with no (yes NO) form of remuneration.  What I find utterly ridiculous though is that these arrogant companies have a long list of requirements for the "successful" candidate in terms of experience and education.

It is often encountered when you try to break into a new industry.  You might be expected to work for an extended amount of time in order for the employer to see if you are a good fit or for you to get to know the business.  Well maybe I have just reached that certain age where I am no longer bedazzled by big words and fancy promises, but in my book this is just plain wrong.  If my skills are deemed good enough to do actual work, I need to be paid in actual dollars.

Media Watch exposed that professional photographers are facing this very same problem.  Tennis Australia tried to lure experienced photographers to cover a tournament in Melbourne as volunteers.

A key requirement of this role is that you own your own camera and equipment and have a portfolio of work, especially action shots that can be submitted with your application.
— seek.com.au, 6th September, 2013

So what would this photographer using his/her own equipment, skills and time get by committing?  Well exposure of course!

This seems to be new buzz word - you work for free in order to gain valuable exposure.  It is a well known fact that media is struggling to come to terms with all the changes caused by technology.  However, expecting professionals to work for free or sourcing information and pictures from bystanders are surely not the answer.

Social Media already provides us with all the exposure we desire, what we need is for our work to be acknowledged, valued and paid for.  If you feel as strongly as I do about this, please show your support by joining https://www.facebook.com/fairgoforphotographers

Who's really to blame?

When Woolworths launched their Aussie Animal cards, I reacted like a typical teenager - rolled my eyes and smirked.  Surely a lame old fashioned campaign like this would never work!  Haven't they done their market research?  Kids are simply not interested in anything that it is not digitized.

Boy was I wrong!  This campaign turned out to be a resounding success.  It captured the attention of Aussie kids in a big way.  For starters, the timing was perfect:  it started just before all the sporting grand finals and peaked during the holidays.

Another factor contributing to the success was the "Swap Days" organized by Woolworths.  Children were encouraged to come into the shopping centres to swap around cards with other interested children.

The third stroke of genius was the albums that could be bought to store the cards.  These albums not only housed the cards, but also provided various activities for the kids.  Unfortunately one of these activities brought the whole campaign in disarray for some parents.


A swearword was hiding in a find-a-word game and low and behold quite a few of the children found it.  Some parents were outraged that Woolworths did not pick this up during the proofreading process. 

My take on the situation is that these games are randomly generated and at most you would ensure that all the words you ask the child to find are actually present.  What bothers me more is that a seven year old child actually knows how to spell the swearword!  Should we really be blaming Woolworths or should we be pointing the finger of blame closer to home?


Alternatively we could have a quiet chuckle and know that stuff-ups happen to the best laid out plans of mice and men . . .