8 week Internship Review by Charleen Dunn

I was given the great opportunity to complete an 8-week internship as a Marketing Assistant for Denise O’Leary at Purpol Marketing, during this 2020 summer. The internship has equipped me with essential marketing skills and knowledge, which I have attained through a variety of tasks.

The first task I was set included adding more content into a new course, named “Digitally Marketing your way to Recovery”. I completed this by extracting main content ideas from various sources, some of which previous interns had created. Such sources included blogs, webinars, graphics etc. I inputted these key content ideas into a master PowerPoint which held the courses core structure and content. I inserted this new material where I felt it sat best within the presentation order. The new content was added in colour for proofing and recording reasons. Furthermore, I used the notes field in PowerPoint to expand on the key points which I inputted into the presentation. Whilst collating content for the “Digitally Marketing your way to Recovery” course, I also took note of any new course content ideas which could be added to either “Magnificent Marketing” or “How to Build an Online Course”. This key task allowed me to gain a strong grasp of the three courses. Through extracting and implementing content, I learnt a wealth of digital marketing knowledge which will be valuable for creating and strategising marketing campaigns. Additionally, the task developed my organisation and time-management skills.

My next task was one which would require my attention for the majority of the internship. I was to aid the production of a new book draft. Denise has a published book, titled: “WINNER, How to Win Business Awards”. This second book was to have a different focus, on digitally marketing your way out of a crisis. I was sent a master document which displayed the structure of the book draft. Firstly, I began including the mass of new content I had previously added to the “Digitally Marketing your way to Recovery” course PowerPoint. I also added the new content Ideas I had extracted for the “Magnificent Marketing” course. I inputted the content where I felt it was most comprehensive. I further ensured this content was re-worded and undertook a conversational tone to match the book’s style. Once this content was inputted and adjusted, I then began adding new content from whitepapers which previous interns had created. The information I derived from the whitepapers was of a high quality and comprised of some beneficial, informative material. Following this, I made some amendments to the master document which Denise had previously noted. I then continued to proof the document and made any necessary changes. At this stage the word count of the book draft had considerably increased and it was in a strong position. This extensive task was one which I gained most from, it challenged and expanded my skill set. I developed my attention to detail and I learnt from this task about its importance. As a result, I also improved my accuracy, productivity, efficiency and performance. All of which have hugely developed my capabilities and experience.

Alongside generating a book draft, I completed alternative tasks. One of which included proofing captions which had been added to the course videos by another intern. This allowed me to work alongside the intern and advance my communication. I also had the opportunity to learn and engage with a bid Denise was producing for a company. Denise has an abundance of experience and knowledge surrounding bid writing. I therefore, found the experience to be very insightful and beneficial to learn about a different aspect of the business.

During my internship, I created some mail-chimp emails. This was a new platform for me but I learnt to navigate my way around. I produced a few email templates on mail-chimp, for new courses, which were to be released as well as a ‘vote for us’ template, to encourage voting in the People’s Choice Stevie® Awards. Learning a new platform such as mail-chimp, was advantageous.

Throughout the internship, I had regular meetings and communicated often with Denise and the additional interns. This allowed me to provide Denise with essential updates and ensured I was able to complete the tasks to the best of my ability. Overall, I have learnt a significant amount regarding marketing and occupying a Marketing Assistant role. I am thankful to Denise and Purpol Marketing for the opportunity to be their intern and I wish them all the best in the future. It has been an invaluable experience which I will take forward with me into my career.