For students, summer is the best time of the year – you are done with your exams and looking ahead for some carefree days. However, if this time is used constructively, it can lay the foundation for a successful career. Employers look for people with prior hands-on experience and internships provide you with just that. You can build connections with accomplished workers and gain unadvertised information. They may also pave the way for full-time placements in companies.
I was a first year engineering student with no practical knowledge of my domain, so getting an internship related to my stream was quite difficult. Then, I just wanted to intern for the sake of improving my CV. I casually applied for an internship posted by ReleaseMyAd. The selection process involved filling an application form and a telephonic interview. After submitting the application form, I called the number provided, with a flair of nervousness since this was the first time I would be interviewed. But, I was relieved as soon as the phone call was over. It was an automated telephonic interview, wherein I was supposed to answer three questions each for two minutes. The questions required me to elucidate my educational background, my interest in the internship, and where I saw myself in ten years. The last one was my personal favourite because at that time I was trying to set my life goals. I was hired as a brand executive (intern). The internship started as a leisurely activity but soon turned into a passionate utilisation of my creative skills.
The first task was survey creation wherein I had to create a Google form on the topic ‘Idea/Views of students regarding virtual internships‘, get it filled by at least fifty people, and make a report illustrating my findings and observations. This introduced me to the realm of marketing. Another task was to write a blog on how my internship dream came true through a marketing internship at ReleaseMyAd. They taught me how to use Quora as a platform for marketing. I was to post three questions and answer three questions on keywords related to The Intern App and ReleaseMyAd.
The Intern App provides interns with the prospect of enhancing the value of their classroom education giving them an opportunity to gain experience and understand businesses. I also created a testimonial to promote internships at ReleaseMyAd. I performed twenty-five such tasks which aimed at promoting the company on various social media platforms. The internship has given me an insight into marketing and developed my management and leadership skills. It made me understand the power of social media as a tool to enhance business.
The USP of this internship was that it could be done from anywhere and anytime. The program was structured to comprise four levels – brand executive, brand supervisor, brand manager, and brand ambassador. Every level intended to expose an intern to relevant skills under the ambit of marketing. As an intern, I had to perform tasks under specific sub-skills. Points were assigned to every task, and on the successful completion of each task, these points were credited. The objective was to perform tasks and earn points to get promoted to successive levels to reach the manager position and receive the internship certificate. The tasks were challenging yet exciting. I had to operate on various social media platforms like Pinterest, Facebook, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. The evaluation was done within 24 hours along with specialised performance review from the experts. This internship unleashed the creativity in me.
About the Author: Akansha Rai is a student of Jadavpur University. She interned with ReleaseMyAd and shares how an internship helped her understand social media marketing and utilise her creative skills. This article was first published on Internshala.