My Work (from home) Experience with Sikh PA

Last month we took on our first ever work experience student. Originally, we organised for journalism student Bavleen Kaur to do her official university work experience with our team in our office in West London during the month of April, so she could work under our supervision to cover April’s Vaisakhi news. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that option was ruled out. However, we did not wish for Bavleen Kaur to miss out on her work experience we had agreed to provide for her. As such, we arranged daily tasks to best facilitate an authentic media work experience as she worked from home. Here, Bavleen Kaur provides her thoughts on this experience. This is being shared as part of our “5 Years of Sikh PA” five days of content as an insight into our organisation.

Work placement is meant to give you a feel of what it’s like to be in a professional work environment. But how is that possible if you are working from home? It’s not the same as waking up early, commuting to work, doing your eight hours and heading back home.

For my first ever media job as a Junior Press Officer for Sikh PA, I was meant be in a proper office environment. However, due to Covid-19, a deadly virus that has impacted the world, that would not be possible.

I had always wondered what people meant when they say they are working from home. I got to experience that first-hand during my time doing work experience for The Sikh Press Association (Sikh PA). What I found was this did not mean I did not get the experience I was looking forward to. It surely was a different way of working but it was still fulfilling in many ways.

“No one day is the same at Sikh PA”

Being a Sikh myself, I was very fascinated by the work Sikh PA does. I chose to apply to do my work placement here to find out exactly the type of work Sikh PA do but most importantly because I have always had an interest in public relations work.

Firstly, to explain what Sikh PA do, they provide publicity for the panth (Sikh community). The main motto and the reason Sikh PA were created was to ensure mainstream media have and portray correct information about the Sikh community.

No one day is the same at Sikh PA, especially during these challenging times. From writing articles for the website, to constantly ensuring the work done by the Sikh community is acknowledged, it sure does take a lot more effort than one would think.

This being my first media work experience, I was finally going to get a chance to apply my learning. It is always nerve-wrecking to start work in a new place especially for someone like me who hates change. However, I was at luck because I was starting work in a new place but from the comfort of my home. How can my manager ensure I still get the same experience out of this? The solution: assigning me tasks based on eight-hour shifts and guide me through them.

Every morning in a very timely manner I would receive my tasks for the day. My very first task was to transcript an interview as well as summarise for an article. The first day, I was a bit lost, but I somehow got myself through the tasks.

I was nervous because I wanted to ensure I gave it my all throughout the journey and ensure I met the standards Sikh PA had in place already. At first, I thought to myself how hard can transcribing be? But, boy, it’s hard! It taught me to pay attention to detail and every new task every day did the same.

Every organisation has its own house-style for writing and through writing for Sikh PA, I learnt theirs. All the tasks/work I did throughout were different in their own way. From collecting news story across the world about Sikhs to conducting an interview to writing an article, every work carried out helped me learn something new.

My writing skills and researching skills have improved greatly because I had the chance to learn through trial and error.

“The work it takes to run Sikh PA is enormous.”

The work it takes to run Sikh PA is enormous. I found that the way it is done is so well organised. Everyday there was something interesting and I looked forward to those emails with my tasks.

Even though I was not having any face-to-face interactions with the team, I was constantly supported by my fellow team members. I was receiving the feedback for my work in a sensible manner.

It sure does help working while being sat next to your seniors so, if you get stuck you can always pick a piece of their mind and continue. That was not possible for me but I had constant support throughout the working day over the phone.

After my time with Sikh PA, there are things I know I am good at and certain things I know need work on. One of those things was investigative journalism. As much as I enjoyed doing interviews and writing articles, the one thing I struggled with most was investigative journalism. I had to ensure for my investigative article that, I found the right information and relayed it in the right way. It was a real challenge, but I managed to get through it with the help of the feedback I was getting and the support I had.

What I noticed while working for Sikh PA was that Sikhs across the world have achieved so much but do not get enough credit for it. This is exactly why an organisation like Sikh PA is vital. I did not understand until I worked for Sikh PA, how important the work they do is.

Sikhs for many years have been under-represented and many issues have not been brought to light due to this. The community would suffer something major like the case of Jagtar Singh Johal and no one would ever hear a word about it.

A major attack could happen on the other side of the world and no one would shed a light on it because there was no one to provide evidence and correct mainstream media if they gave the wrong information. Sikh PA fills that void by being the organisation that helps support the community by guiding those who need help, publicising the issues to ensure mainstream media present it.

Since their existence they have built a strong relationship with mainstream media. Their role is very important in ensuring the profile of Sikhs is raised.

However, the Sikh community still face a lot of scrutiny for their identity and there is a long way to go. They still get misunderstood for their identity and in some parts of the world still face abuse and are not able to practice their religion in all fairness.

“From my experience with Sikh PA, the organisation is a blessing for the community”

From my experience with Sikh PA, the organisation is a blessing for the community because their work has ensured fair representation for the Sikhs and they have called out the mainstream media when they have been unfair to the community. They provide the right information at the right time.

In a time like this, working for Sikh PA has been the best highlight of it all. It has been a rewarding experience as a whole and has grown my love for journalism as a career. It has allowed me to grow as a person, as a Sikh as well as a journalist, who is just starting out their career. It sure has been a good start.

Sikh PA taught me a lot more than I expected in my first ever media job. Sikh PA has opened many avenues for me in the future because of the variety of the work I did with them. I would say I made the right choice by starting here as it allowed me to explore all my options and if I get a chance, I would do it all over again.