SME PR outfit trains university interns to assist SMEs with their public exposure
Media students, Maria Timoteus, Ndapandula Tjituluka, Rakel Shakungu and Mirjam Shihepo, have just started their internships at Poiyah Media as part of the 600 hour practical learning requirement of both the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and the University of Namibia (UNAM).
Poiyah founder and owner, Ilke Platt said there is a huge need for companies to take in interns to help develop them in their respective fields. Platt was recently appointed to the advisory committee of NUST’s communication degrees up to honours level. In this capacity, she applies her extensive experience in public relations to guide students during their experiential learning phase.
“Poiyah Media believes in growth, grooming and nurturing students to take part in the working industry. This gives the interns an opportunity to apply and develop their knowledge of related theories and concepts in a practical environment through an internship programme,” stated Platt.
Over the past 24 months, Poiyah Media has accommodated 24 interns from the two universities. An extraordinary number of the interns are female. “When we select our intake, there are many factors that we keep in mind. Firstly, the balance of gender. It’s important for us to balance however the majority of our applications have been females,” she observed. In fact, some 77% of all interns was female.
New intern Rakel Shakungu commented “Apart from the required six hundred hours from my respective varsity, I felt it was much needed to practice what I am learning. My first task at Poiyah Media was to write a press statement, which is something that I have not done yet and it is great to compliment the theory I have gained so far.”
An internship at Poiyah Media not only focuses on communications, media and public relations but incorporates students that have enrolled in graphics, broadcasting, and English courses. This enables a fair opportunity for students that yearn for practical experience. “We boast that one of our recent interns, Riejhaadt Wolhuter, assisted one of our biggest clients last year with graphics and now finds himself in Zambia through the Multichoice Talent Factory. We love the fact that we also expose our interns to corporates that scout for new recruits and that have respect for the work we have executed with our interns,” said Platt.
Caption: New interns at Poiyah Media, from the left, Maria Timoteus, Mirjam Shihepo, Rakel Shakungu and Ndapandula Tjituluka.
