Three rules for successful internships

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This is an article by Meg Robertson

While every internship is a valuable experience, many can leave you feeling as though you’ve gained more skills to work in a coffee shop than a communications agency.

I’ve had my fair share of these internships but as soon as I joined Splendid Communications I knew it would be different. Splendid looks at an intern as an investment, rather than a temporary fixture, and they really helped me to develop the skills to be a professional in the industry.

When I was introduced to the Splendid Communications family, the first thing I realised was that so many of the staff had started at the company as interns themselves.

I was often speaking with Senior Account Executives and Account Managers that had been through the exact same journey I was about to embark upon. I knew then that a full-time job at Splendid was a realistic goal to work towards.

From day one on the programme, I was assigned a personal mentor. She had come through the intern programme herself so understood exactly what it felt like to be the new intern on her first day at Splendid. She made sure that I was a part of a team, rather than at the bottom rung on a ladder.

It gave me confidence to know that I had someone who had been through the same process to guide me, answer my questions and share advice on how to blag my way into a job!

I’m now a Senior Account Executive and an intern mentor myself. I know from my own experience that being a Splendid intern isn’t easy, but it is fun. At Splendid you’re constantly learning and there is never a dull moment. As an intern mentor, here are my three top tips to new Splendid Futures recruits:

Always give 100%

I quickly learnt it was important to give my all in every single thing I did. Whether that be in a meeting, brainstorm, sell-in or any admin process I helped with – not just to build experience, but to get noticed, let people know that I was there, I was reliable and willing to work hard.

Get involved

The more you get stuck into company life, both in and out of working hours, the more people notice you. The more people notice you and see what great work you’re doing, the more likely they will be to lobby to keep you around. At Splendid, great work is always celebrated and in my first month I won the ‘Splendid person of the month’ award as recognition of the effort I was putting into all of my work.

Listen to your mentor

Work closely with your mentor as much as possible, they are there to help you. Learn from them and squeeze every last drop of information and advice from them that you can. They got the job, so they must have done something right.

If you want to know what working for a leading communications agency is all about and think you have what it takes to join the Splendid Futures programme, send your CV to Bethany Blatch ([email protected]) and tell us why you’re Splendid.