A Little Bit More About Me And What I Learned at My Internship

Background

The ultimate goal of my life, ever since I turned I’d say 18 or 19, has been to run for office to become a world leader, lead a country, and work in the government. I am one of the biggest political buffs I have ever met in my life. I have always been interested in politics, fascinated by the diplomacy, and the dynamic nature of day-to-day work at the government offices. I have always had political aspirations, which I think were instilled in me from a very young age by my family. I don’t think my parents ever realized that all the choices they made for my education were making me more hooked on global politics. I don’t think even I ever realized, how much I loved politics until after I graduated high school. But, ever since then, every step of my life has been a calculated move to reach there. To become a global world leader. 

One of the first steps I took to start my journey toward my political career was to take the Public Relations – Corporate Communications program at Fanshawe. The program has changed my way of thinking, my way of carrying myself, and has helped me improve my brand. I have started thinking critically, started analyzing outcomes more diplomatically, and choosing to enroll in the program has been one of the best decisions of my life so far. The program’s four-month field placement was one of the reasons I was sold on enrolling.

I completed my Field Placement at the London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC). LEDC was always one of my top choices, however, not the top choice, for where I wanted to do my placement. I applied to three placement positions at three different organizations including LEDC, London Heritage Council, and Dundas Place. The reason I applied to only these three organizations was because all three of them are a part of the municipal government in the City of London. I wanted to learn the government relations, media relations, improve my writing skills, build close relationships with people working for the government and I knew getting the placement at any of these three organizations would have helped me achieve that. 

I applied to all three positions on October 31, 2019, and LEDC was the first organization to respond to my application and schedule an interview. The position I initially applied to and interviewed for was LEDC/CME-SWOB Intern. I did all my due-diligence before going in for the interview. I researched the organization, understood their message, and prepared a social media strategy based on that. Even though I took the initiative and was really confident when I presented the strategy to the interviewer during the interview, I didn’t get the placement. I researched the organization thoroughly, understood what they do but I failed to recognize the fact that I have to research the position. 

However, my interviewer was really impressed with me and recommended me for LEDC’s Communications & Marketing Assistant Intern position. They reached out to me to schedule an interview and requested me to bring a copy of the social media strategy I created. I didn’t make the same mistake again. I did my research again and this time about the position I was applying for as well. I went in for the interview and presented the social media strategy. They really appreciated the initiative and was impressed that I did the research to prepare the strategy. It was a much better interview and I was much more comfortable during the interview than last time. They offered me the placement 2 hours later and I accepted it right away. 

LEDC was always one of my top choices and the reason for that was they work closely with different tiers of the government, they cater to different types of audiences, and they are connected within the community. It was an all-in-one kind of opportunity for me. I would be able to improve my writing, build connections within the community, and ultimately come a step closer to being in politics. Also, they write content for different organizations and promote businesses in London through LEDC’s social media channels. The opportunity to learn a dynamic style of writing, where every message created is entirely different, sold me on the opportunity. 

My Role and My Work

I started my placement at LEDC on January 8, 2020. The first day was mostly spent in the orientation and getting settled in the office. It was a very warm welcome and I learned that the corporate culture at LEDC is “Work Hard, Play Hard.” I received my business cards already printed and ready for me on my desk, which read my designation as “Communications and Marketing Assistant.” I was really proud of myself that day about the fact that I have worked hard and if I continue doing that it will start to pay off. The first day my supervisor went over the policies, introduced me to the whole staff, and gave me an itinerary for two weeks, which for the most part included the things I will be working on. It was really efficient as I knew for the most part almost always what were the things I needed to work on and it helped me channel my hours, I spent at work, to always being productive. 

Most of the time at work was always consumed by writing for social media and updating content on the website. However, I worked on a number of different projects throughout the course of my placement involving different aspects of public relations and communications such as government relations, media relations, stakeholder relations, internal communications, and external communications. I worked on a number of research projects for LEDC during my time there. It was not intended but I was able to improve my research skills as well during my placement. I have never liked researching. I find it boring but while working at LEDC, I learned the importance of research, not that I didn’t know already but I learned why every communicator must have good research skills. 

LEDC focuses on Manufacturing and Digital Creative sectors i.e. the technology sector. These two are the key sectors they have been mandated to develop within London. I had an opportunity of working on a research project for LEDC that involved gathering economic data for their key sectors. Another research project I worked on involved collecting data from the federal government’s website regarding grants and subsidies that employers in LEDC’s key sector can apply for. These grants help businesses and employers to hire post-secondary students for internships and placements. Students, on the other hand, get real-world experience and get paid for it.

While I enjoyed all the projects I worked on, I had one specific project which I really wanted to be a success and it did end up being one. It was a media relations project. I was working for an LEDC client. A start-up business named Hairstrong founded and run by Nicole Baranowski, who is a varsity athlete and a full-time student. I was really inspired by her story and I really genuinely wanted to help her succeed with her business. I pitched her story to the media and reached out to the personal contacts I had in Media. I ensured that her story was told and she gains traction and credibility from the public. She ended up being published in 3-4 different media outlets including AM980 CFPL and London Inc. Magazine. It was a really proud moment for me and I was happy that I was able to help her. She was really thankful for my help and she took it to LinkedIn to thank me. She wrote “Thank you to the London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC), specifically Harshivam Bawa for getting me exposure to publishings such as London Inc. Magazine.”

I was really enjoying my time at LEDC and I was always excited to go into work every week. I was working on things I enjoyed doing and was becoming good at those things. I was working on three different projects, which I couldn’t see to a conclusion as my placement was cut short due to COVID-19. All three projects were highly confidential with one of them potentially being the ultimate highlight of my career so far. I was really sad to not being able to see it through and put my name on it but I figured I would get a lot more opportunities in the future and I moved on. I wish my placement hadn’t been cut short and I could have gained more experience but I am grateful for the experience I got. 

I think, I achieved all the learning outcomes of the course out of this placement during my time there and I think I was also able to achieve my personal goals that I had set for myself before starting the placement. I improved my writing skills a lot. If I compare my writing now with when I had just started my placement, I have become a lot better and I am continuing to learn and Improve. I attended a lot of events, which helped me build connections in government and as well as the communications industry. I have also been able to widen my network on LinkedIn.

Not only I learned professional lessons at LEDC but also some life lessons. I have always had a plan about my life, always calculated my every move, always knew what I wanted in life. I still know what I want in life, which is still to become a leader, however, I certainly have a different perspective about life now. If I have learned something, with my internship being cut short, with COVID-19 affecting the people in the whole world, it is the fact that nothing in the world is certain. Your plans, your calculations will go out the window when things out of your control start affecting the outcome. So, while it is good to have a plan and an ambition, you must always find time to relax and just enjoy as life is too uncertain to not do that. 

This I think is the most important lesson I have learned from this experience and I am grateful for it.

So, thank you Rachael Luby (My supervisor and Mentor), thank you LEDC, and thank you PRCC faculty for a wonderful experience and opportunity.