Interview with Mandi Bateson, Head of Social at Mindshare

This week we have Mandi Bateson, Head of Social at Mindshare, discussing her career path, her creative process for coming up and executing ideas, technology trends and skills that are becoming increasingly important for marketers.

1. To kick things off, can you tell us a little about yourself and provide a quick overview of your career to date?

I started working as a marketing and events coordinator during a 2 year stint in England in the early 00s. After a few years working in a multitude of B2B marketing communications roles, I was adamant that I would a) never specialise and b) never work for an agency. And yet here I am, loving agency life and in one of the more niche marketing areas in the industry.

April 28, 2013August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: public relationsTags: interview, linkedin, mindshare, public relations, social media 1 Comment

Interview with Andrew Tran, Social Media Specialist at Vodafone Australia

This week for my Interview Series, we have Andrew Tran, a Social Media Specialist from Vodafone Australia, who has had a ton of experience working with online platforms, managing communities and running social media channels.

Andrew also manages his own blog where he writes about social media and how brands can incorporate it into their business objectives. For this interview, Andrew talks about his career path, his current role at Vodafone, blogging for business and the evolution of content creators. Enjoy!

1. You’ve worked in a lot of interesting roles – community producer, sales specialist, social media producer – can you tell us a little about your career path? How sort of steps did you take to end up where you are now?

Starting from sales I got my break working in eCommerce which gave me a good platform to learn a bit of online sales through SEO and some analytical exposure as well.

After 3 Mobile merged with Vodafone, I was given an opportunity to broaden my skill set in digital with, the intention to come back to the social media realm.

October 8, 2012August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: public relationsTags: interview, linkedin, public relations, social media Leave a comment

Interview with Jessica North, Communications Assistant at BBC Worldwide

This week for my Interview Series we have Jessica North, a Bournemouth University student who just has just completed a placement at BBC Worldwide. Jessica will be talking to us about her diverse range of roles, working at the BBC Worldwide, running a blog and where she sees herself in the future.

1.      Having worked in such a wide range of roles; tell us about your career path so far.

I started in PR by completing some work experience at the local football club. Shadowing a press officer, especially one in the sports industry is certainly a unique experience; it really gives you a good idea for the speed of the industry.

From there I’ve worked in a couple of agencies and with clients on a freelance basis. I worked for six months at an agency that specialised in Healthcare where I worked across PR and Marketing, which was so interesting and now more recently at the BBC Worldwide.

February 1, 2012August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: public relationsTags: interview, linkedin, public relations, social media 1 Comment

Interview with Cameron Blair, Digital Media Consultant at Wilkinson Group

This week for my Interview Series, we have Cameron Blair, Digital Media Consultant at Wilkinson Group, talking to us about his career path, blogging for PR, staying on top of news and trends and where the communications industry is headed.

1. Can you tell us a little about your career path so far? Have you always been working in the communications industry? 

Well, I started out as a photographer, snapping pics for a local newspaper in the Philippines while I was travelling through the southern island of Mindaneo. When I moved to Sydney I started my own business shooting weddings and events. I also did a bit of web design work as well.

2. Did you ever utilise social networking services like Twitter or LinkedIn in any of your job hunts?

No not really, although I do see many people using those sites to find work, I myself have only used social media for reputation building and personal socializing. I suppose the people on Twitter are more interesting than my real life friends. Just kidding.

January 15, 2012August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: public relationsTags: blogging, interview, linkedin, public relations, social media Leave a comment

Interview with Caroline La Rose, Consultant at Max Australia

This week for my Interview Series, we have Caroline La Rose talking about her role at Max Australia, the gap between public relations in university and the real world, the importance of social media and improving her PR skills.

1. First off, tell us a little about your career path. What made you choose public relations as a profession?

As an undergraduate uni student, I did my bachelor’s degree in communication science which is very broad and touches upon a little bit of everything – public relations, advertising, marketing, mass communications, journalism, etc.

During my undergraduate course back in Mauritius, I did a few PR internships for not-for-profit organisations as part of my program. And as a result of some fulfilling hands on experience and all the high grades in my PR subjects, I decided to pursue my uni studies and do a Master’s degree in Communication Management majoring in PR at UTS.

November 4, 2011August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: public relationsTags: internship, interview, linkedin, public relations, social media 3 Comments

Interview with Aubrey Hamlett, Intern at Milkk PR

This week for my Interview Series, we have Aubrey Hamlett, an intern at Milkk PR and also founder of “”My Interning Life” – a blog about university students and interns in the media sector.

1. You run a fantastic blog called My Interning Life, dedicated to profiling university students. Where did this idea come from?

My Interning Life came about because of a university assignment. In Online Journalism Production, we are required to create a Twitter account, start a blog and create our own website. The website will also contain the content from our blog and we are required to blog once per week with approx 500 words.

I think the idea came to me just out of discussing it with friends. Or perhaps after waking up, because I have on my notepad on my desk “ideas for blog: interns.” It became the logical decision to create My Interning Life as it was something I was currently experiencing and was interested to hear other stories from students.

As I said in my introductory post, I was shocked to find so few students interned. At my uni, it’s not compulsory to do an internship or work experience, but there is a subject where students are required to participate in a certain amount of work experience.

2. What was it that attracted you to the PR industry?

To be honest, I knew little of the PR industry. I have literally fallen into it. My brother’s girlfriend Eden knew that I wanted to gain experience. Eden is a co-editor of a group of independent magazines and she messaged me one day saying that Milkk PR had an opening for an intern and said I would fit in perfectly.

I honestly thought nothing of the email I sent to my future boss, Shereen. I explained what I did at uni (Bachelor of Media Studies, majoring in Journalism) and said I didn’t know much about PR but was willing to learn.

I suppose PR has always interested me and that’s ultimately why I decided to email Shereen. It’s something that I felt was different and would challenge me outside of my university studies.

3. What was your internship there like?

Milk Kiddle Langmaid PR is not your typical work place. We’re based in Shereen’s home office in Brighton and we all bring our laptops and work together while gossiping, snacking on chips and dip, drinking beyond coconut water and chai tea.

On my first day I worked on updating databases, something which I learnt is crucial to PR. Databases and contacts are key to getting information, press releases etc. out to the media industry and pleasing the client.

It’s a very friendly and relaxed environment. But we are also very hard working. It’s always satisfying knowing I’ve done a good job or have found what Shereen needs on that particular day. I’ve been at Milkk for 6 ½ months now and am just starting to gain more confidence with my responsibilities at Milkk.

4. I’ve spoken to quite a few PR professionals in the past year and the issue that keeps coming up is the gap between what you learn in university and what actually happens on the job. Would you agree with this?

I would have to agree.

There isn’t any hands on experience, it’s all theory repeated in different ways in each subject. My university (La Trobe) has an online magazine upstart which is edited by a small group of chosen students in their third year or are grad students. However, if this subject was run for an entire class semester by semester, I think it would be beneficial to future students to learn how editing and publishing works.

If they made the internship subject compulsory for all media/journalism students, that would be the best thing. Getting out there and interning or doing work experience is crucial to understanding the industry you’re studying. It’s also crucial in deciding if your chosen industry is the right career path for you. Hence why I am going to seek out more work experience in newspapers and sports clubs, to see if those areas are what I really want to work in.

5. Did social networking services like Twitter, Facebook, etc. play a part in securing an internship?

Yes. Eden contacted me through Facebook and I believe Shereen ‘advertises’ on her Facebook page for interns. Twitter is also beneficial, as I have made contacts with media industry people, which I am hoping to make use of in the next few months. I tweeted an article I had written to a professional sports player and he read it. I then met him after a game and introduced myself. He has referred me onto the media manager. Fingers crossed I will be interning with this sports organization early next year.

6. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Is there a particular sector of the communications field that you’d really love to work in?

2011 has quite literally thrown me through a loop. I would have never imagined interning in PR, let alone be imagining a career in sports Media/PR. A year ago I would have answered this question as working for ACP, Cosmopolitan in Sydney. Today I don’t know where I’ll be in five years. I have a feeling I’m being nudged in the sports media/PR direction but I really need to find out if this is the right path for me.

In five years, I want to be happy, passionate and successful at my job within the media.

7. And lastly, what are the top 3 blogs you read to stay up-to-date with the PR industry?

I read a lot of blogs, that PR dude is certainly very good and insightful. I find that a lot of PR students are on twitter, but don’t necessarily blog about it. I also read my friend, James Purcell’s blog, The Purcell Report. As I am new to this whole industry, I recommend keeping tabs on Prospect 360 for their PR and media seminars.

**To contact Aubrey say hello on Twitter @aubreyhamlett or check out My Interning Life***

October 27, 2011 by haowordpress Categories: public relationsTags: internship, interview, linkedin, public relations, social media Leave a comment

Interview with Jamie Garantziotis, PR Manager of Regional / Corporate Social Media at Southern Cross Austereo

This week for my Interview Series, we have Jamie Garantziotis who is currently working as the PR Manager of Regional / Corporate Social Media at Southern Cross Austereo. Jamie discusses his career path, internships, keeping up with the PR industry and provides some insight into New York’s PR scene.

1. You graduated with a BA (Media & Communications) in 2007 and went on to complete a Master of Communication in 2009. Were there any particular reasons this? Did you find that it benefitted during job hunting?

I didn’t have a straight path into the study of PR. When I finished school I realized that I really enjoyed the world of media and communications but didn’t know where within that broad field I wanted to focus my studies – hence the reason I chose to study Media & Communications  at The University of Melbourne.

October 17, 2011August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: public relationsTags: career path, internship, interview, linkedin, public relations, social media Leave a comment

Interview with Adam Boland, Director of Social Media and Strategy at Channel Seven

This week for my Interview Series, we have Adam Boland who is currently the Director of Social Media and Strategy at Channel Seven. Adam has been in media  his whole career and he provides some great insight into the TV industry, social media and his career path.

1. You’re currently the Director of Social Media and Strategy at Channel Seven which sounds like a pretty cool role. Can you describe what a typical day’s like?

I basically hang on twitter all day.  I’m joking!

There’s no such thing as a typical day in television, which I think is what many people find attractive about the industry.

It’s a happy merger of being proactive and responsive.  Every morning at 8:30, we all wait anxiously for the previous day’s ratings and then dissect them down to the minute.  What worked and what didn’t?  That’s the responsive bit.  The proactive element is to try to influence the following day’s ratings.  There’s an old saying in television that you’re only as good as your next ratings – so we are truly accountable each and every day.

October 10, 2011August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: public relationsTags: communications, interview, linkedin, media, social media Leave a comment

Interview with Roger Christie, Head of Digital at Sefiani Communications

For this week’s addition to the Interview Series, we have PR professional Roger Christie discussing his transition from journalism to public relations, his role as Head of Digital at Sefiani Communications, internships, job hunting via social networks and his collaborative venture PRINKS.

Q1. First thing’s first, tell us a bit about yourself. What was your career path like?

I left school wanting to become a journalist as I had a real passion for writing.  After two-and-a-half years of my course, I suddenly realised that I wasn’t so sure and decided to give PR a go instead.  The appeal of working alongside businesses to advise on their communications needs appealed to me and gave me that corporate edge that I was after.

I did my first internship at Edelman working with their Health team, before moving to Five Star PR in Manly – a two-person team.  Having exposure at both ends of the spectrum gave me an early look at agency life and where I saw myself working best in the future.  As I finished my degree, an opportunity came through at Sefiani and I jumped at the chance, as a friend had recommended the firm.  Almost five years on, I’m still here.

July 21, 2011August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: public relationsTags: blogging, career paths, communications, digital, internship, linkedin, public relations, social media Leave a comment

Getting Started With Your PR Job Hunt

A PR job hunt guide written by a PR student on a job hunt … sounds logical enough right?

I’ve been lucky enough to talk to quite a few PR professionals over the past few months and they’ve all provided me with some great advice.

July 18, 2011August 23, 2018 by haowordpress Categories: public relationsTags: blogging, job hunt, linkedin, public relations, social media 3 Comments