Christine Siow’s Post

I got REJECTED from my dream internship 🙃 3 months ago I applied for the position of an editor at my dream company. Sent in my best writing samples, and the perfect cover letter, but got no reply. After a follow up, it was revealed to me that the position had been filled. This won’t be another motivational post about how I bounced back, because honestly, I didnt. Rejection hits you like a brick in the face. You start questioning every word you wrote in that cover letter, every comma meticulously placed in those writing samples. Did I not sell myself well enough? Was there something lacking in my qualifications? It's raw, it's real. I am here today, bare and vulnerable, to tell you that It's okay to sit with the discomfort. To acknowledge the sting of failure without rushing to find the silver lining. Because sometimes, resilience isn't about bouncing back right away. It's about allowing yourself to feel the weight of disappointment. So, if you're reading this and you're in the same boat, know that you're not alone. It's okay to feel defeated, to question your path, to wonder if you'll ever get to where you want to be. And when you're ready, when the bruises have faded and the scars have healed, remember this: rejection is not a reflection of your worth. It's merely a detour, a redirection towards something better suited for you. So, hold onto hope, dear heart. P.S: Bought myself some flowers! Definitely made me feel a lot better. P.P.S: Motivational quotes are welcomed in the comments :)

What they say about me is true😁 “Stith’s story is a testament to the power of passion, persistence and the impact of supportive communities. Stith is never afraid to go the extra mile and use his talents to better the world.” Check out this article my university wrote about my internship endeavors: https://lnkd.in/g8cvBDJb

The following opportunities are : 1- To become a Good Writer via our Intership Program. 2- Good Researcher 3- Job Opportunities related to Sales, operation, reviewing. 4- Potential growth in personality. 5- Potential growth in litigation and judiciary examination.

✍️BLOG POST ALERT! ⁠ ⁠ 🗣️Playing ON Words: An Intern's Perspective ⁠ Anya joined us on work experience throughout the weekly sessions for our brand new writers’ group and shared her experience with us as she witnessed and took part in our debut writers course. ⁠ 📲 Click the link in our bio to read the blog, and be sure to let us know what you think!⁠ https://lnkd.in/eisT-r54 ⁠ #PlayingONBlog #Aninternsperspective #newblogppost

What is ultimately the true core of an event?  How can you race against time to find the news?  How to be more objective and fair in concisely expressing an event?  These are the three questions I kept asking myself during my three-month internship with People's Daily News Australia. Before the internship, I took journalism as a fun thing to do, and I was happy to communicate with my interviewee. But in the workplace, efficiency is crucial. I need to be more systematically and comprehensively understand a thing quickly, to find real, powerful and multi-perspective sources of information to disclose the reality and three-dimensional impact of the event. So it was during this process that I began to touch on my professionalism and ethical responsibilities as a journalist. The mentioned repeatedly six elements of news values: authenticity, topicality, importance, proximity, prominence, and interest were also evidenced in the high-density news writing practice of the internship. When I first started to write press releases, I followed the daily communication habits to collect information and write news, so the draft submitted to my superiors was not focused enough and the structure of information was not clear enough. After constantly comparing and imitating my supervisor's revised press releases, my way of expression and thinking became more concise, powerful and structured, which greatly improved my work efficiency and was a big gain during my internship. In addition, my supervisors had very strict and meticulous requirements on the source and authenticity of the content I wrote, and I needed to carefully indicate the source when I was editing. My superiors taught me the strict and meticulous journalistic style, which deeply influenced me to form the habit of doing everything in an organized and flexible manner.

What I particularly like about the British approach to education is the work experience during the summer term. From Year 10 onwards, when pupils are already studying the subjects for which they will later sit exams, there is a great opportunity to try your hand and see the inner workings of what you intend to do in the future. After visiting my workplace one day, my son strongly applied for an internship at Nielsen McAllister this year. And I am very pleased that he was not rejected. So, this summer, Yegor will get to learn how the agency supports clients across industries in PR and communications. He'll get to try his hand at writing press releases, learn how different companies' coverage is monitored, and learn the nuances of promoting a business on social media. Yegor will work in the shadow of team members and carry out research projects; he also could create content for the agency's social media channels. I think this is a logical continuation of pumping up his verbal skills and communication skills against the background of the fact that the other day it became known that Yegor won first place in the Rotary International Club 2023-24 Young Writers' Competition with an essay on "Rebuilding". This is especially gratifying considering that my fourteen-year-old won in the senior age group (14 to 17 years old). When assessing the judges considered the creative approach to the disclosure of the topic, the ability to interest the reader and consistency in argumentation. So, it will be clear even from the school bench - he inherited intelligence and beauty from me or from his dad😊. #internship #writer

My dream since middle school has been to become a media industry worker. And in graduate school, I finally realized my dream. Despite the fact that the industry is a lot different from what I had imagined, I still harbor journalistic aspirations. Through this internship experience, I have gained a new understanding of the type of talent needed in the media industry. With the shift from traditional media to the digital media age, what the media industry needs is a composite talent. That is, they can serve as both interviews, information gathering, filming, and Internet editing. While I was out covering events, I noticed that some authoritative media companies changed the configuration of one photographer and one interviewer. Instead, one person performs a range of tasks in information production. This is because the increased demand for information in the digital age has made the media industry required to produce information more efficiently. The traditional media process of writing, editing and distributing is too time-consuming, so the different sectors of the media industry tend to converge.   As for the connection between professional practices and moral and ethical issues in the media, observing ethical and moral boundaries is not as easy as I thought. Especially for political news. Although political news does not directly state the country's position, it tends to disseminate the implicit position through other factors, such as the number of placements and the size of the page for different position pieces. Therefore absolute neutrality cannot be achieved in news. This is contrary to the principle of balance in news values.      

PR and math go together. I said this to my PGD students at School of COmmunications & REputation yesterday and I saw their hearts sinking. The horror on their faces was palpable. “Why has no one told me about this?” was a unanimous feeling among them. So of course I went on to explain to them terms like return on investment, budgeting, percentage of errors, margin, etc. But it made me wonder, what kind of rude shock are these students in for, if hey haven’t learned in their internships the nature of calculations that most PR professionals have to make on a daily/weekly/monthly/annual basis? I think I will tell them about how much legalese they’ll have to read in my next class… #thewritinglab #prwriting #PRMath #publicrelations

There is nothing more rewarding to me than to get student and professor notes about their reactions to my books. I got this note today - as I am preparing for the end of the semester projects, final client presentations for The Bird's Nest, and the holidays - and it truly made my day. When I started writing textbooks in both social media and PR, my goal was to make an impact on the profession and change the field if I could. Life is too short to just do what is expected or go along with what has been done forever in the field. Why not take the opportunity to lead, mentor, and support change for the better? This has been the mission and purpose in all of my books, but to see this note and know the students in this class are creating excellent work from using DPR is priceless. This means they will be able to use this work to apply for jobs, internships, and other professional opportunities to advance their career and goals in PR. This was just using the first edition of DPR - imagine what the second edition wlll bring as it will come out next year from Sage. #publicrelations #PR #textbook #author

Internship Wahala: Learning or Earning? As a young aspiring intern, I have personally encountered challenges that throw light on the unethical practices that some media houses engage in. During the last semester vacation, when I sent internship letters to some media houses, I was met with frustrating responses. Some would promise to call me back but never did, leaving me hanging in anticipation. Others crossed ethical boundaries by demanding payment, turning internships into commercial transactions rather than learning experiences. The most shocking encounter was with a media house CEO who audaciously asked me to buy a plastic chair before I could intern there. I couldn't help but wonder, had he forgotten the very essence of an internship? Was I expected to be an apprentice rather than a learner? Or is the organization 'hair dressers' media house? Sadly, I realized that these experiences were not unique to me. A female friend shared her own bitter story, narrating how a producer from a renowned media house had demanded sexual favors in exchange for an internship opportunity. Similarly, a male friend who was also interning at a media house in Accra, recounted how he was constantly running errands for senior journalists and producers, such as buying 'Gobɛ and Awaakye', and picking up their children from school. This prevented him from acquiring the essential skills he needed as a student journalist. I was left stunned and deeply saddened by these experiences. It raises the questions: what kind of country are we living in? Where has the professionalism and integrity of the media industry gone? Internships should be platforms for aspiring professionals to learn, grow, and contribute to their chosen field. They should provide equal opportunities, not favoritism based on financial means or personal favors. By taking advantages of hopeful interns, some media houses are perpetuating inequality and compromising the true purpose of internships. It is time for a change. Media houses must reassess their approach to internships and uphold the principles upon which they are built. An ethical internship culture should prioritize fairness, inclusivity, and professionalism. As aspiring professionals, we deserve the opportunity to learn and contribute without darkening our integrity. It is up to media houses to create a transformative and ethical internship culture, allowing young talents to establish themselves in the industry. The future of journalism relies on the next generation of professionals who are skilled and have genuine love for the media job. #letrightthewrongs #MILAdvocacy #pseudonym still remains 𝓞𝓹𝓪𝓷𝔂𝓲𝓷 𝓚𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓮 𝓓𝓐𝓑𝓞𝓐