PART THREE: WOULD I DO IT AGAIN?
Every aspiring college business student dreams of that nine-week long summer internship with that big-time company.
We check our e-mail like social media waiting for hopeful news of becoming one of the future interns for the marketing department of a globally recognized company. Quite opposite of a skyscraping national marketing corporation, however, Focal Point Marketing (FPM) is only an eight-member team, but each individual is unique and brings something different to the table.
My coworkers are not other interns but professionals who have years of marketing experience. I don’t report to a designated intern supervisor overseeing the “dirty” work of copy-making and file organizing divvied out among the interns. At FPM, I feel valued as each member takes time out of his or her day to teach me what I will never learn in the classroom.
My first day in the office, I was asked what I wanted to get out of the next three months. Since when does an intern have the power to decide or give input as to what they want their internship to include? But from a company that so deeply cares about their clients, I guess I wouldn’t expect anything less.
Just as the FPM crew has formed a strong relationship with me as their intern, they make an effort to get to know their clients on a first name basis. On video shoots, the media crew can name each person involved (two or twenty people).
In the office, clients are always addressed by their first and last names rather than “the guy/gal from wherever.” This is probably what surprised and impressed me most about FPM. It shows me their commitment to the success and wellbeing of their clients beyond a business perspective.
To give a brief synopsis of the other aspects of my internship I thoroughly enjoyed, I have created a bulleted list below (I quickly learned the importance of bulleted lists to the FPM crew):
- Flexible Schedule
- FPM was very accommodating of my running schedule as well as my brief two-week vacation to Italy! I did bring back Italian chocolate though, which I know was very appreciated.
- Teamwork/FPM Environment
- I absolutely loved becoming part of the FPM family. The crew really does comprise a random and unique, but close knit work family. I actually miss my coworkers over the weekend and look forward to early Monday morning meetings to catch up with everyone.
- Variety of Experience
- If I haven’t emphasized this aspect enough already, what made this experience so worthwhile was the amount of hands-on and insightful experience I gained. Apart from being engulfed in the world of marketing, I learned loads about design, accounting, media, market analysis, etc.
- Free Coffee and Donuts
- Enough said . . .
I love writing almost as much as I love the free coffee and donuts, so writing this summer intern blog series was a breeze. I am flattered FPM felt I was a capable of not only blog posts, but also client content. My skills noticeably improved as I was given more responsibility throughout the internship to independently compose my own pieces. I wrote more for FPM this summer than I have in the past two years of college, and I’m sad to be turning the page on this three month-long chapter.
The next chapter will hopefully include a fantastic fall semester of business school studies, fast cross-country races and Florida sun. I thank FPM and our wonderful clients for an amazing summer, and who knows, maybe you’ll be hearing from me again next summer?
Well folks, sadly that’s a wrap, but to answer the question, “Would I do it again?” – I unhesitatingly answer, “ABSOLUTELY!”
About Lauren
Lauren Perry is Focal Point’s summer 2016 intern. Originally from Richland, Lauren attends the University of Florida as a junior where she’s majoring in Business and Spanish. Her talents include coffee-running (a truly unique talent), running (she’s a track and field athlete at UF), writing, a willingness to take on anything we throw at her, and baking (her FPM sugar cookies were an exquisite delight). Lauren has been an excellent team player, and a welcome member to the FPM team for the summer.
