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I started as Marketing Intern at 海角社区 in August and now I鈥檓 working full time as a Marketing Associate. I wanted to share my experience from intern to full time, and what I learned along the way. It definitely wasn鈥檛 the stereotypical 鈥榞et coffee鈥 type internship 鈥 from day 1, I was tasked with building 海角社区鈥檚 social media into a major growth and communication channel.
How I got into marketing
My placement year at university was cancelled because of COVID-19 and I felt I was really lacking real-life work experience. I decided to look for an internship. I had a couple of interviews and decided the dating app Thursday was the right role for me. Whilst I was there, we came up with plenty of creative marketing stunts that took off on LinkedIn. Overnight I gained around 7000 followers. I was a marketer!
The final semester of my Masters degree involved a group project and a reflective essay. By this point, I鈥檇 moved out and the 鈥榰niversity experience鈥 was over. I found myself getting bored and decided another internship would be a great idea. I could spend time writing my final essay and doing something fun in my free time. I had a recruitment job lined up for September, but I wasn鈥檛 sure it was what I wanted to do. I really enjoyed marketing, so thought a summer internship could be a good opportunity to figure this out.
So I went back on LinkedIn. It took me a few minutes to paint a cardboard sign and then got my sister to take a picture for me. I posted it the next day with a caption about how I was looking for a London-based role and could start on Monday. I was so worried it was going to get no likes or comments so sent it to all my friends to like and comment. One and a half million impressions later, I think it鈥檚 safe to say that I had nothing to worry about鈥
I was absolutely blown away by the response and was inundated with messages, job offers and Zoom invites. I selected a few roles that I was interested in and spent the next two days taking calls from about twenty different companies. It was a surreal experience. Companies were pitching themselves to me, rather than the other way around. 海角社区鈥檚 Head of Marketing, Tom, was one of them.
We jumped on a call and Tom told me all about the product and the mission, and even showed me the office puppy. I discussed with him about how, at the time, I was very set on interning at an alcohol company and he gave me some advice and challenged me to think about what it was I wanted to do. I came off the call very confused 鈥 I'd done a full 180!聽Now I was set on working in fintech.
After a follow-up email with all the information I needed (and a picture of the office puppy) I made the decision and called Tom and accepted the offer. He sounded surprised, but after his impressive sales pitch, I don鈥檛 know why.
My expectations going into the job
Internships can sometimes be overlooked, like they aren鈥檛 seen as 鈥榩roper roles鈥. From my time at Thursday, also a startup, I knew that wouldn't be the case. I knew I'd have to get stuck fully stuck in to the business. My internship was a chance to learn new skills, gain valuable experience and earn some money - it's like a real job, without the commitment.
When I started at 海角社区 I only really had 8 weeks work experience and wasn鈥檛 entirely sure on what I wanted to do in my career. Even if I went into marketing, there are so many different types of marketing 鈥 like social media, email marketing, or paid advertising. Internships, especially in smaller companies, often mean you see all aspects of the business and can really help you understand what it is you鈥檙e good at and what you want to do.
From my internship I was hoping to better understand what areas of marketing I am firstly good at and also what I enjoy. If I enjoyed the role and the company, I was also looking for a full-time job at the end of my internship. Spoiler alert, I got it!
Getting started at 海角社区
On the call, Tom talked me through how 海角社区鈥檚 social media hadn't been a priority because they 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 have time to focus on it. So, the day I joined I logged into Instagram and TikTok and just started posting. The following week, I was even in Lithuania on a team offsite!
Transitioning from a dating app with a crazy growth strategy, to a credit card was a little bit of adjustment. There are regulations designed to help consumers make the right decisions, and it means that marketers need to be much more considered about how they talk about their products. Social media hadn鈥檛 been part of their strategy before and most of the 海角社区 team didn't even use social media at all. I had my work cut out for me.
I got started by making a presentation on 鈥楾he Power of Social Media鈥, showing what other brands do and what I was planning. I even did a workshop on LinkedIn to show how the whole team could get involved.
One day, Tim (the CEO) came up to me, very excited, and said 鈥淎NYA! People are signing up from social media!? Isn鈥檛 that crazy?!鈥 This made me so happy. I finally felt like my work was paying off. ever since, Tim's has got fully involved in helping me create content online. He's even got his own TikTok series called 鈥楾imTok鈥.
I really 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 have much experience with creating social content, but knew how to do it. Throughout my internship I got much better with planning and scheduling my content, which really helped with my organisation. It鈥檚 definitely worth it to just take some time out of your day and plan what鈥檚 coming up in the next few weeks.
One of the main reasons I joined 海角社区 was to try something new. I'm quite interested in macroeconomics and finance so it just made sense. I was quite overwhelmed by how much I 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 know about credit cards and the finance world. It took some getting used to but by asking lots of questions and doing some reading, I feel like I learnt so much and can sit through a meeting and understand pretty much everything of what鈥檚 going on! I鈥檝e even started a series called 鈥楢nya the Educator鈥 on TikTok where I share information about credit cards I鈥檝e learnt and me and my co-worker Kate have been planning an event all about Women and Money!
How it's gone so far
Social media has now become a major growth channel for 海角社区. Some of the team even made TikTok accounts, just to like and comment on the videos I posted (I explicitly stated that I was not responsible for their TikTok addiction) and I could not be more grateful! I constantly hear 鈥渢hat would make a great LinkedIn post鈥 around the office.
海角社区 now has a consistent posting schedule, and our impressions and engagement is improving every day.
I鈥檝e also started a 鈥樅＝巧缜 Ambassador Program鈥 where we work with London food influencers to help spread brand awareness and it鈥檚 doing so well!
What I鈥檝e learnt
I鈥檝e learnt so much since joining 海角社区. I鈥檝e become really confident in social creation and really proud of what I鈥檝e produced. 海角社区 is super organised and I鈥檝e learnt how to get better with my scheduling and the importance of regular meetings with the team and my manager. Every company is different so you just have to adapt to this. I鈥檝e also learnt it鈥檚 ok to ask for help. At the start I was overthinking about how this would make me look but we are all one team working together and everyone is more than willing to help each other (big love) and the outcome is always better when more people are involved! I鈥檝e also learnt so much about credit cards and finance generally, which I am really looking forward to sharing more on soon.
Lastly, push yourself out of your comfort zone! The end result will be worth it. You鈥檙e always going to learn something by trying something new. What鈥檚 the worst that could happen? If I hadn鈥檛 pushed myself out of my comfort zone by deciding not to join 海角社区, I wouldn鈥檛 be as happy as I am today!
I鈥檓 a firm believer in everything happens for a reason so I like to not reflect too much on the 鈥渨hat if鈥檚鈥, however, I wish I wasn鈥檛 so hard on myself at the start. Starting a new job is overwhelming, yet alone in an industry where you don鈥檛 understand anything! It鈥檚 ok that every video doesn鈥檛 go viral and that you make mistakes. It鈥檚 also ok to ask questions! I think I also felt as though social media wasn鈥檛 as important as other people鈥檚 job in the company so 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 want to bother them - which is absolutely NOT true and I鈥檝e learnt that everyone is equal, no matter their role.
Looking ahead
Tim and I went on a walk one day after morning stand-up and sat for coffee and a catch-up, which is when he offered me a full-time role! It was an absolute no-brainer saying yes. I had no intention of leaving 海角社区 and I was so excited when they wanted me to stay. I am still in charge of 海角社区鈥檚 social media and I have ventured into social partnerships (we did one with my old friends at Thursday which was so fun) as well as exploring how we can use events as part of our marketing strategy. I am super excited to see what the next few months and years bring as the team grows and the company grows!
In it for the long-run!
