Challenge Your Career: Becoming A Challenger

In September of 2017, I started an internship with Wpromote as I was finishing up my second-to-last semester in college. I knew I wanted an internship in digital marketing because it was an industry that I definitely wanted to be a part of—and it was a requirement for my graduation. I also knew that landing an internship with the agency that turns challengers into champions would increase my chances of potentially working there full time.

I joined the Hospitality & Travel team supporting some of the largest hotel brands in the world, which was really exciting. I instantly knew that this is where I wanted to begin my career in digital marketing.

Despite the large size of the team, it was not long into my internship that I felt like an integral part of it.

I was learning new ideas and perspectives while attending the University of Texas at Dallas, such as the importance of a good keyword strategy and generating links from other business, but it was only when I was in the Wpromote office that I was able to put them into practice. Both of these factors impacted hotels in ways that I would have never fully grasped while in the classroom. When it came time to study for these concepts for exams, I felt that I had an advantage over my classmates because of the real-world experience I had gained that allowed for a deeper understanding.

During my time in college when I was an intern, I was also able to cultivate presentation skills that I was able to test in a professional environment. After my first presentation, I received valuable feedback from my team that would benefit me in both my professional and academic life. When I transitioned to full time, I was more at ease with client presentations because of that experience early on as an intern.

I am glad that I was able to get a better understanding of the digital marketing industry by participating in an internship. This allowed me to verify that this was a career avenue that I wanted to pursue and that the company was a great place to work. I would recommend others who are seeking an internship also use the experience as a test period to find out if the company they are working for is a good fit.

Advice For Future Interns

• Work on your time management and organization skills. Time management is vital as you transition into a full-time job to meet your deadlines. Balancing school and work can be a tough task, but it is easier with a structured organizational system. Using a planner or calendar can allow you to streamline your day-to-day activities and provide you with accountability to stick with your plans.
• Invest into the company as much as it’s investing in you. If you treat your internship like a free trial, you won’t get much out of it. However, if you really put in the effort, it can help you land a job and make a smoother transition to a full-time position. Some of the greatest professional advice I ever received was from a guest speaker in college. He said, “You should strive to create work that you would bet your entire job on.” This sounds incredibly risky, but if you put your heart and soul into your work, people will notice.
• Always ask questions. I cannot overstate how supportive my team was during my time as an intern and as a full-time employee. It is easy to fear asking too many questions and putting expectations on yourself to know everything. However, by not asking questions, you’re doing yourself a disservice, especially as an intern. My co-workers at Wpromote are more than happy to answer questions because they wanted to see colleagues around them grow. This habit continues to help me in my day-to-day duties, as I still ask a lot of questions to continue to develop my skills and gain more experience.

When I did transition to a full-time role, I was able to use the knowledge I had gathered from my time as an intern to get a head start on my duties without needing to learn the ins and outs of the job at the same time.

From Intern To Full-Time Employee

I hope that my story as an intern provided insight for those who are curious on whether Wpromote is an awesome place to work at for both full-time employees and interns. An internship with Wpromote can be a great way to get started in the digital marketing industry and find out what it means to be a challenger.

So now that you know what it’s like to be an intern and have some tips on how to succeed, are you interested in working with us? Apply here.