Cut the fluff: What interning at an agency can really be like
Cut the fluff: What interning at an agency can really be like
What we learned and our advice
Quick! Name three things you learned during your internships.
Ask lots of questions
Set work-life balance boundaries
Have coffee chats with your colleagues to meet everyone
While these are all vital to your success as an intern and your mental health and well-being, many aspects of the job aren’t talked about enough.
Being vulnerable and transparent is being human, it allows us to be more honest about our experiences and brings us closer to those around us. Here is what our summer interns shared about their experience and their friendly advice for anyone else:
Get comfortable being uncomfortable
As an intern, your role is to push yourself to learn. Despite the positive support of your peers, friends and family, the little voice in your head can scare you and make you doubt yourself. But spoiler alert - everyone feels like this at one point or another!
Acknowledge that voice, but create space to reflect on the positives, what you have learned and how you have progressed. When you look back, you won't even realize that tasks that were once terrifying, you now complete with ease and confidence.
Advice: When given the opportunity to take on a new task, never say no! Say yes, but preface by asking a few questions or support. It might seem simple, but pushing yourself just beyond your comfort zone will build your confidence and create rapport with your colleagues that you are always willing to try.
The Agnostic difference: The Agnostic team ensured that in our role as interns we felt valued, sharing their appreciation for work, but also regarded our experience and trials as the learning experience it is. The team also ensured to balance constructive feedback with positive reinforcement of what you did well. They always went the extra mile to ensure we felt prepared to adapt and rework with as much confidence as possible.
Aim to become a media landscape master
Understanding the media landscape is key. Thinking about how your stories will fit into the news cycle is a pillar of PR planning and strategy development, so it’s best to immerse yourself in this world as soon as you can.
Advice: Take time to familiarize yourself with the news stories in the industry you are working in. Try to identify trends and patterns in the media and take note of which stories get told, who is writing about what, and what angle the story is being positioned at. If you don’t already use it, this is a great time to get a Twitter account up and running. Twitter is a goldmine for keeping track of what journalists are talking about!
The Agnostic difference: Don’t think you have to learn everything on your own. The Agnostic team is always bouncing ideas off of each other and sharing media updates and news - whether it’s a media lead for a client or just a wacky piece of news, it only takes a couple weeks of being on the team to feel like you’ve got it down.
Remote work can be lonely
Everyone talks about the benefits of remote work (hello midday naps!) but no one talks about its downsides. The social environment that makes up team dynamics can often make or break a job, so what happens when you remove a large part of the social interaction from work? You’re left with just the work.
Starting a new job is hard, but starting a new career when you don’t have the previous context for the conventions and nuances of the industry or team dynamic can be nerve-wracking!
Advice: Find non-work-related topics you both find interesting to chat about with your colleagues, building that professional-personal relationship and getting that fix of non-work-related interaction. If there are other interns, try to build a relationship with them, as they will definitely share similar and relatable experiences with you.
The Agnostic difference: Despite working completely remotely (and most of the team barely having met each other in person!) the Agnostic team does a great job of fostering a close team environment. Whether it be through catch-ups with our smaller teams, our weekly team wide meeting, or casual conversations with each other over Google Chats, Agnostic’s culture makes the team feel like a team.
Overall, when it comes to the intern experience, you’ll get out what you put in. Make sure to learn as much as you can and don’t forget to enjoy the ride.
