Beyond the Internship: ICMS Students Stay On at Gandhi Creations

Over the years many ICMS students have been fortunate enough to complete Industry Training Internships (Work Integrated Learning) at leading Australian marketing and events management company, Gandhi Creations, with a number of them continuing beyond the internship at the award-winning company in a full-time or part-time capacity.

Gandhi Creations is a multi-award-winning social enterprise founded in 2007 specialising in marketing strategies and turnkey event management solutions. For over 10 years, the company has provided marketing, public relations, and turnkey event management solutions to the public and private sectors across the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2017 the company won the Australian Event Award for Best New Event in South Australia, ACT and Northern Territory; in 2015, Gandhi Creations won the Best New Event in NSW for our Corporate Cultural Diversity Programs as well as in 2013 in the Best Community Event Category for the Premier’s Harmony Dinner.

Gandhi Creations is a valued industry partner of ICMS, providing students with the opportunity to gain practical experience in the events industry as part of the ICMS Industry Training Internships (Work Integrated Learning) program. Bespoke internships with over 1000 industry partners are built into every degree and course offered at ICMS and, as in the case with several students who started as interns have gone beyond the internship and are now employed full-time at Gandhi Creations, this practical experience gained while studying is why ICMS graduates are career-ready at the end of their studies.

“Through partnering with ICMS, Gandhi Creations have crossed paths with some incredibly motivated, talented, and overall great people. Many of the ICMS students who have undertaken work experience roles with Gandhi Creations have gone on to work for us as part-time or full-time employees and have provided a lot of value for us as an organisation,” said Sonia Sadiq Gandhi of Gandhi Creations.

“The experience of bringing emerging professionals into our organisation and providing them with the training, knowledge and experience required to thrive in their industry of choice has also been highly rewarding. This is also a credit to the ICMS work placement program, as the extensive experience that is provided to students enables them to create genuine impacts in the organisation that they are paired with.”

In the words of Sonia Sadiq Gandhi, below are a few ICMS students who have gone beyond the internship and benefited from the WIL internship experience at the company:

Gabriela Supangat:
Gabriela originally came to Gandhi Creations as part of the ICMS Work Placement Program in February of 2020 and has since become a paid employee of the organisation. Gabriela has been responsible for the majority of administrative work for Gandhi Creations and has also contributed significantly in areas such as graphic design, planning, and research. Gabriela recently had to return to Indonesia to assist in the management of her father’s business, however Gandhi Creations  have thoroughly enjoyed having her as part of the team for almost a year.

Jacklyn Putri:
Jacklyn commenced her work placement with Gandhi Creations in 2019. During her time with Gandhi Creations, Jacklyn undertook a wide range of administrative duties and also assisted with graphic design. Throughout 2019 Jacklyn contributed to the planning and execution of approximately 25 events, with several of these being large scale productions with more than 1,000 guests. Jacklyn has recently come back to work with Gandhi Creations and they look forward to having her as part of the organisation throughout 2021.

Felix Chang:
Felix was first introduced to Gandhi Creations through the ICMS Work Experience program in August of 2020. During his time at Gandhi Creations, he has been largely responsible for creating, planning, and scheduling social media content. Felix has supported this area of the organisation at live events and on an ongoing basis across approximately 10 different social media channels. Gandhi Creations are looking forward to continuing to work with Felix in 2021.

Tallulah Suthern:
Tallulah commenced with Gandhi Creations in early 2019 and has been involved with our organisation on an ongoing basis ever since. Following the completion of her placement, Tallulah now works with Gandhi Creations as an employee and undertakes a significant role across event planning, stakeholder management, and administrative work. She also provides support across marketing and design tasks when required. Tallulah is now a core part of the events staff and assumes responsibility for major components of their events.

Sonia Sadiq Gandhi reflected on how the global Covid-19 pandemic affected Gandhi Creations.

“As an organisation operating almost entirely within the events sector, it would be untrue to claim that Covid-19 has not presented a wide range of challenges to Gandhi Creations. Typically, we deliver roughly 40 events on an annual basis, however strict regulation around physical distancing, venue capacities, and events has reduced this number significantly. The silver lining to this challenging year, however, has been the way Gandhi Creations as a team have responded to such formidable circumstances. A forced hiatus from delivering events has provided us time to improve the way we do business across several areas, whilst unfamiliar challenges surrounding the events we have delivered forced us to think more innovatively and adopt new methods of project delivery that will no doubt serve useful over future years,” she said.

“From 2021 onwards, Gandhi Creations looks forward to returning to our regular annual program of events. We have some exciting new developments in the works including the inaugural delivery of our India Australia Business & Community Awards (IABCA) program in India, and the introduction of several exciting new digital initiatives that will serve to advance Australia’s relationships with foreign nations. We have also recently initiated a project with the Salvation Army, which will serve to more effectively cater their social support services to culturally and linguistically diverse Australians.”

For more information on the ICMS Industry Training Internships (Work Integrated Learning), click here: https://www.icms.edu.au/industry-training/

For more information on Gandhi Creations, click here: https://www.gandhicreations.com.au/