Based on my experience as an intern, I can tell you that there’s a lot more than those 8 hours a week you’ve committed to the lecture hall.
First we had lessons we can learn from Kim Kardashian, now we have the real lessons we can learn from our university experience – so what exactly can you learn from uni that wasn’t first introduced in the classroom? Here are some tips from the best person to ask – the university intern:
Loughborough walks on water!
Dedication and commitment to the culture of the client is very much like our patriotism at university.
If you’ve ever been to a Freshers’ Week, you’ll know what I mean. As soon as you qualify as a student, you’ll be part of a world that’s often portrayed as a bubble. Whilst you may spread yourself over a number of clients, you need to ensure that whilst working on one at any given time, you need to live and breathe them and be in their ‘bubble’.
Finding yourself
As many people say, uni doesn’t allow you to ‘find yourself’. In fact, it allows you to find others. Many people who are different! I’ve found marketing to be an odd collection of different skills merged together to create something that sparks conversations. Finding others allows you to ‘find yourself’ in a brand and to enhance it with sharing information and skills amongst your team to produce outstanding work.
Life is a box of chocolates
You just don’t know what you’re gonna get – or how your customer is going to react until you try it.
University culture is the collective culture of many, and you don’t know how well you’ll fair until you arrive. My expectations of university were blown out the water in my first few weeks. Some expectations weren’t met, and others exceeded them.
The same can be said for a creative brief. You can read the brief, hand it back to the client to redo and interpret it however way you like, but until the actual work starts, you cannot quantify the outcome.
All-nighters?
Sorry students – we can only learn from our mistakes here.
It may help you get that 1st, but it definitely won’t make your marketing more successful! When it comes to working all night, it’s best to outsource it to handy marketing automation platforms to work after the perimeters of 9 to 5.
Finally… It’s more than the work!
University gives you the perfect opportunity to delve into extra-curricular activities you’ve never tried, albeit never even heard of!
But I can hardly compare Lacrosse or the Disney Society to marketing…. can I?
Whilst marketers may love to talk Disney in their meetings, that’s not what they have in common. We can associate these societies with team spirit, doing something you’re truly passionate about, or simply trying something new.
Whatever you have an interest in, take advantage of the way it works, how people work within it, and most importantly, enjoy your time whilst doing it!