My first few weeks as a Marketing Intern
I started as an intern at Adeo at the beginning of February this year with near to no marketing experience outside of my degree in economics, with the hope of expanding my knowledge of marketing and public relations before graduating and going into the big wide world.
It is no secret that the job market is becoming increasingly competitive and over-saturated. Although a degree is not always essential to secure a job, in many cases it helps and even more in recent years, it’s not enough. Employers want to hire graduates who have career experience, and nowadays you see more and more entry-level jobs requiring a year plus experience. For those not lucky enough to have a year’s work placement as part of their degree, internships are the way forward.
Naturally, before starting I was apprehensive; it is no secret that internships can be incredibly hit and miss, and a lot of interns are not treated particularly well. Every intern fears that all they’re going to end up doing all day every day is making people cups of tea, running the odd errand here and there and sending a couple of emails where needed. That or be drastically overworked and even more drastically underpaid. However, one month in and I can safely say that any fears that I may have had have been well and truly squashed.
Digital Marketing
One of the best things that Adeo did with me was to sit me down on my first day and ask what I wanted to learn and exactly what I wanted to get out of this experience. Structured internships are great if they are done properly but coming into a company that tailored the work I would be doing to cater to my interests and aspirations is another level. Communicating with interns to establish what their goals are is incredibly important and largely overlooked in the world of internships. Although employers undoubtedly know more about the job, it is common for them to be almost ignorant of the area interns wish to specialise in, Social Media, PPC, SEO meaning interns leave confused and lacking the clarity they thought they would end the internship with. This is not good for anyone, listen to interns and their needs.
Similarly, dependent on the hours worked and their pay, most interns come with the hope that they will be treated at the same level as other permanent/full-time employees. Interns want to be treated with respect and not like a loose end temp who must constantly ask, “is there anything else you would like me to do?” That is, it is so important to not just set interns random, basic, meaningless tasks where they won’t learn anything, interns want to feel like they are part of the team.
It is also important to find a balance. Many interns come to a company to gain experience which like me, often means that they don’t have any in that specific area prior to joining. Employers should be conscious that they might not know all the jargon, software, equipment, processes, formats etc that are used. However, most interns are eager to learn – all that you need is to be patient with them and willing to teach them where needed.
Adeo makes sure that I feel welcomed and appreciated, I always feel like my contributions are valued and even though I’m not in every day of the week I feel like I’m part of the team. Adeo treats interns how interns should be treated.
