From pitch sessions where we *gasp* actually talk about our ideas face-to-face with co-workers from other departments to running errands (cause email doesn’t always work for everything) and even attending events. A social media internship is so much more than just being on the computer all day! I would say about 40-50% of my day is spent on the computer but then there are some days such as when I’m working at an event and won’t even take out my phone for anything.
Skills & More Skills
The more well-rounded you are, the better. Especially when it comes to working in the social media industry where you don’t know what your boss will expect you to do. Sometimes I’m out taking pictures of models with fancy camera equipment, sometimes I’m editing photos on the computer, sometimes I’m writing an email newsletter and figuring out what content is interesting to thousands of people from all over the world, and sometimes I’m interviewing someone face-to-face. This all requires a large variety of skills which if you don’t already have, then I highly recommend picking up. That’s why I think a huge advantage is having a blog because you’ll pick up a bunch of these skills quite easily from developing your own online brand.
Many people seem to confuse social media as being just a creative industry where you take pictures all day and create content. It’s actually very analytical! From measuring outreach to creating progress reports to send to your supervisor and other departments, a lot of time will be spent looking at numbers and even studies in order to really understand how effective the company’s social media efforts really are.
Sometimes, It’ll Just Be You
Two of my past internships were for small businesses that were just getting started and had only hired one person to do their social media which was me. It can be a bit overwhelming to be the only intern but sometimes I find this to be a positive because you get more creative freedom, more room to take risks, and even get to build a content calendar from scratch. If you’re doing a great job at it, then you’ll always be known as the one who built an online presence for the company and be able to write about that on your resume #winning
There Will Be Haters
Despite the fact that you’re a social media intern and you probably got hired at a pretty good company or even a great small business, there will still be people that work there that don’t believe in what you do. Trust me, I’ve been there and it’s okay. Social media is still a developing industry and you’ll have to get used to explaining to some people what it’s all about and why your company should invest in it. Get used to explaining the “why” part in a confident manner and back it up with good facts (another reason why you need to be analytical!) and you’ll be okay.
You’ll Have to Be Careful With Your Own Social Media
You’ve heard it before: the number one thing that companies will look at when they hire a new employee is social media. Once you actually get hired, you still have to be careful of what you’re posting because you’re representing the company at all times. This is why many companies might ask you to not go into details about your job online (such as myn) or even worse: delete your social media. That’s just the way things work so make sure to be careful and think twice about what you’re posting.
Depending on what kind of social media internship you’re doing, you might find yourself with some perks such as being able to see products before they’re released to the public, being able to work backstage at shows, or even interviewing popular people! The opportunities are endless and can be one of the most exciting parts about a social media internship.
