At the beginning of this year I participated in the Business
School’s Industry Placement Program. As part of this program, I had the
opportunity to move down to Canberra for six weeks to intern with the Australian
National Committee for UN Women. The Australian
National Committee for UN Women is a non-profit organisation that raises both
awareness and funds for the work that UN Women undertakes in the Pacific
region. During the time that I was on placement, the primary fundraising focus
was on the elimination of violence against women in the Pacific region, an area
where gender-based violence is prevalent.
I arrived at the Australian National Committee for UN Women
at an exciting time. When I first began the placement, it was a mere two months
before the biggest fundraising campaign of the year, International Women’s Day.
As the weeks went by and the campaign day grew closer, the office became busier
and I found that I had a broad variety of tasks to complete. No day was the
same – I experienced everything from managing the marketing strategy for
merchandise through to helping sell tickets for the upcoming events. It was a
fantastic opportunity to be involved in the development of a nation-wide
campaign, as well as gaining an understanding of the specifics of marketing in
a non-profit environment. The program provided me with a chance to put the
theory that I had learnt in the classroom into practice by working at the heart
of a large campaign.
I also had the chance to meet a variety of people from the
non-profit industry throughout the six weeks that I was there. One of the
highlights was talking to Ellie van Baaren, Regional Communications and Media Specialist
at UN Women Pacific, who told us of the programs that were currently underway
in the Pacific region. It was exciting to hear about the work being done on the
Markets for Change program, which encourages women in Fiji, the Solomon Islands
and Vanuatu to become involved in local marketplace leadership and provides
them with safe spaces to sell their produce. It was after hearing Ellie speak
that I realised that the work I was assisting with was making an actual difference
to the lives of women living in the Pacific region.
During the internship, I also had the opportunity to conduct
a research project. This was an exciting chance to explore an area I was
personally interested in within the organisation. I had the freedom to choose
both the question and the research methods I was to use, which was something I
hadn’t experienced before in my degree. I developed a set of recommendations
which I provided to the organisation at the conclusion of my placement. It was
fantastic to realise that I was making a genuine, lasting impact on the
organisation through these recommendations.
The Industry Placement Program was a great opportunity to
gain industry experience in an organisation and to explore the practical side
of marketing in an office environment. It was often challenging, but always
exciting, and over the six weeks I spent in Canberra, I developed both
personally and professionally in ways I could never have imagined before I
began the placement. The skills and the contacts that I gained will be
invaluable in the future as I move into a professional career, and the
experience I had working on the International Women’s Day campaign is one that
I don’t think I will ever forget.
Rebecca Smith
Current student in the Master of Commerce program at the University of Sydney Business School and participant in the Industry Placement Program in Canberra
