Behind every great advertisement is a sole objective . It is an advertisers job to plot out each detail in order to reach that objective. The viewers may not always be aware that they are being lead in a certain direction, but there is a planned end result. Like advertising, life has a strategic way of providing us with results. We obliviously live day by day, unaware of each step being taken to lead us in a certain direction. This simplistic process is how I became an intern here at rustmedia.
Months ago, I was frantically looking for an internship. While in college it is preached that internships land you jobs, and I definitely wanted to increase my chances of a career prior to graduation. I applied for multiple internships around the St. Louis and Cape area. From those applications came a few interviews, and from those interviews came many denials. I fell into a panic as my junior year came to a conclusion, and I found myself without an internship.
I came home for summer break with broken spirits and a sense of self disappoint. How was I going to start a career if I couldn’t even land an internship? I decided that I would take a break from my hunt and focus on my savings. I returned to my summer job as a delivery driver at Domino’s, and tried to gain as much customer service experience as possible.
Once returning to SEMO, I had to listen to many of my classmates complain about their summer internships. I noticed that many of them gained little knowledge or experience, and were just glad that they could put an advertising related job on their resume. After making these observations, I decided to view internships in a new perspective.
As students, we seem to become primarily focused on what we can put on our resume, and forget to benefit from the learning experience. I decided to focus less on the “internship status” and began to search for beneficial learning opportunities. I arranged a meeting with the head of my department and asked if she had any connections that would be interested in mentoring me. She gave me a few references, and I went from there.
I have been exposed to rustmedia since my first advertising class in 2014, and was excited when my department chair sent me their contact information. My strong advertising interests include marketing research and social media, and I have always seen myself working for a full service agency. I was extremely excited to see how a professional advertising agency functions from an employee aspect. I met with Jeff and Jaime expecting them to let me shadow a couple times a week. Little did I know that they were looking to hire an intern to assist them with work that I was extremely interested in.
That meeting/interview was the first of its kind. I naturally felt comfortable in the atmosphere and with everyone I met. Since that day, I have substantially broadened my knowledge in how a full service advertising agency operates. I have also developed a further confidence in my education and feel like SEMO has been successful in preparing me for this position.
I have been dealt a wide variety of tasks in the month that I have been here at rustmedia. I have conducted competitive research, and used the results to determine which social media channels some of our clients should be present in. I weekly monitor our clients’ social media pages, interact with their consumers online, and often develop social calendars for monthly postings. I have also used my personal experiences and peers to provide feedback on upcoming projects through the agency.
Life has lead me through a series of strategic events that resulted to this internship position. I was looking for real life experience, and that is exactly what I am getting here at rustmedia. I am excited to see what more this company has to teach me, and am eager to provide them with my talents and inputs.
