Marketing and Advertising Internships.com

The 11 keys to a successful summer marketing or advertising internship are pretty basic. But easy to forget if you don’t make a conscious effort to do them every day.

1. Show up on time (shoot for arriving early and staying late) – Not only will it make a good impression, but the earlier you get there the more work you can get done and remember every assignment you get done is a chance to learn something new. You are young so there is no better time to devote to your career. A strong foundation goes along way.
2. Focus – If you can avoid having another part-time job if your internship is full-time. It will only wear you out and make your performance at the internship suffer.
3. Always do as your told on the project with as little questions as possible – This is not to say you won’t or shouldn’t have questions, but always try and find the answer yourself first. Sometimes your employer may want to see how you handle projects that the answer is not clearly laid out for you.
4. Never be bored – As soon as you are done with a project ask for a new one. In fact get a habit of asking for your projects two at a time. Say, “When I am done with this one what would you like me to work on next?” or something along those lines. If you are at a busy company the employer may not have your next project planned out yet. In that case you have two options: ask for something you can do that is ongoing, but can be done sporadically like updating the company blog, doing competitor research or buying stock photos, you get the idea, whatever they need done. Or look at the project that you just finished according to their guidelines, what can you do to make it better? How can you got the extra mile and wow them? The key to remember is that no employer wants to see a bored intern.
5. Don’t spend too much time at the old water cooler – Socializing while you work is a huge distraction and time waster. This is only going to get you in trouble one way or the other. There is a lot of gossip that goes on at companies especially large corporations, it is best to not get caught up in it.
6. Tag along – Take every chance you can to go along to seminars, hear speakers, even meetings. Not only is this a chance to impress your employer, but is also a great chance for you to learn and get to know your coworkers on a professional level and get to spend a little more time with them on a personal level as well.
7. Find a mentor – It may be your immediate boss or a senior member of the department you are working in, but finding someone who can give you guidance and answer your questions. Keep a list of questions that come to your mind and schedule a time with your mentor to just pick their brain. Just make sure you send them the questions ahead of time.
8. Dig deep – Don’t just show up and do the tasks they give you and go home, take the time to learn about the company, industry and particular marketing or advertising field you are in. Get online and read as much as you can, ask your boss or coworkers if there are any marketing or advertising blogs or books they read, they will be glad to recommend them.
9. Build your network – Take the chance to create connections within the company and industry, if there are any associations your coworkers or boss belong to see about joining them. Ask their advice for your next career move, you may find that they are some of the best contacts you will ever make, especially if you followed the advice in the first 7 areas.
10. Keep a journal – Keep a detailed record of everything you did. The more detailed journal you keep of the work you did and marketing and advertising projects you worked on the easier it will be to update your resume. In fact you should just be constantly updating your resume, because you never know when the next great opportunity is going to come along.
11. Be a packrat – Keep copies of everything (ads, graphics, copy, presentations, etc. even if they didn’t get used) you worked on to help you build your portfolio in the future, again something you should be constantly updating throughout your marketing or advertising career.

Keeping these 11 keys to a successful summer marketing or advertising internship in mind as you look for, start or are in the middle of your internship will help you make the opportunity live up to its full potential.