My Marketing Internship at BlinkJar Media
My name is Remy Blaize, and since December of 2017, I have been an intern at BlinkJar Media. Today, I’d like to give you a little insight into my experiences here, the day-to-day operations of the agency, and the takeaways that will guide me as I prepare to begin my career.
It all happened by chance while I was working at a local, Baton Rouge restaurant. This restaurant also happened to be a client of BlinkJar, and it was while I was working there that I met Rikki Broussard, BlinkJar’s Director of Media and Client Relations. Over the course of our conversation, I mentioned that I was a marketing student nearing the end of my college career and that I was looking for an internship opportunity where I could gain experience while completing my degree. We kept in touch over the next few weeks, and she informed that there was work available for an intern position at the agency.
As I contemplated the offer, I was nervous and not quite sure what to expect. I had heard stories about peers entering internships that required insane hours and performing menial tasks that provided very little insight to the world of marketing and all for no compensation other than a mark on their resume. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this internship at BlinkJar would be a far cry from these experiences at other agencies.
My First Day at BlinkJar
I arrived for my first day at BlinkJar early, eager, and quite anxious. I was not yet sure what the day would entail. Would I be making coffee runs and copies, or would I begin receiving useful knowledge that I could apply in my future career? Rikki arrived, gave me a tour of the office and introduced me to everyone. She sat down with me in her office and asked about what I had experience in, what type of work I like doing, and what I would like to learn from them.
After our conversation, she showed me all the portals and scheduling tools used at the office. She assigned some tasks for me to work on so that I could learn the pace of work and begin getting my feet wet. At the end of the day, she wanted to meet with me again to see how I felt about my first day and have a sort of wrap session with me. This cleared up a lot of the anxiety I had about my position here. I realized that I would be valued as a team member and not treated as “just an intern.”
The Day-to-Day Operations at BlinkJar
As my internship continued, I began to take on several different tasks with increasing amounts of responsibility. I began to post to various social media accounts for BlinkJar’s clients, write blogs for client websites, create spreadsheets, learn various tools used on Facebook Business Manager and Hubspot. I updated websites, created calls-to-action and got some experience with tools used in the modern age of digital marketing, such as MOZ.
Rikki and Jared train their interns to be jacks of all trades. I worked on many different types of projects here to find somewhat of a niche. I demonstrated a knack for writing and blogging, so it was a skill that they sought to refine. I was given practice and feedback on several blogs to sharpen my ability and develop it into something that will be greatly useful to me in the field of marketing.
The atmosphere was very comfortable and relaxed. I never was given a reason to feel nervous about asking anyone for help or advice when completing a project. If I asked to work on something specific to learn a new skill, I was always given the opportunity to do so. If my work was completed on time and I put in my hours, Rikki and Jared, BlinkJar’s founder and president, were happy to accommodate me in any way possible.
Final Thoughts on My Internship with BlinkJar Media
I would recommend an internship at BlinkJar to anyone looking for experience in the world of marketing for several reasons:
You are appreciated here. You are paid for your time, which is very rare to find in an internship position. You are never asked simply to do busy work or just run errands. Every day, when I left the office, I was told ‘thank you’ before I left, which goes a long way.
You are given valuable tools and information. You learn to use software and programs that are used in modern digital marketing. Everything in this realm is kept up-to-date so that you are learning skills that are useful and transferrable.
I have had a very positive experience throughout my internship here, and I consider myself very fortunate to work alongside people who were helpful, knowledgeable, and great mentors
