Our very own Seung, shares his experience of his six month internship at Bright Network HQ, what it taught him and why an internship was so valuable for him and his career.
'During my final year of university, I still felt quite uncertain about my future, and was not sure what lay ahead for my future. After much contemplation of my prior experiences, the path of Marketing and PR seemed well suited to my own strengths, skills and interests, and the mixture of creative and analytical thinking really appealed to me. However, as I was still not completely sure what career to take on, I applied to many other graduate programmes and internships.
Throughout the year, I received several rejections, which was disheartening for a while, especially as many of my friends were securing graduate programmes, but I decided to use this as a driving force and continue to apply and work harder. Bright Network was useful for letting me know about career opportunities based on my background and interests. By chance, as Marketing and PR was one of my interests, I was sent an email about the Digital Marketing Internship position at Bright Network, applied, and thankfully got the role.
Before my first day, I was very nervous, as I didn’t know exactly what to expect, and was worried about being in a new environment. But as soon as I walked into the office, everyone made me feel welcome straightaway. The first day consisted of an office meeting, training on various tools including Google Analytics, copywriting, and social media, and a coffee with my team. The first week was packed with training and inductions, which I appreciated, as I felt as though everyone was making an effort to bring me up to speed with the business. It also allowed me to gain an understanding of business that I hadn’t received at university. What stood out to me most about the first few weeks was having introductions to all areas of the business – I was given an insight into each team, ranging from Tech to Events, and gained a broad overview of Bright Network as a whole.
Throughout my internship, there wasn’t a particular day-to-day, as my team took on so many different responsibilities. I really enjoyed this as there was a lot of variety to my work and felt that I was developing and learning a lot of skills at once. My manager organised weekly meetings with me (along with the rest of her team), to talk about what I wanted to work more on, which direction I wished my internship to take, and anything else I wanted to discuss. This was extremely constructive and helpful as it felt like she was truly investing in me and wanting the best for me for these 6 months.
The best part of this experience was being part of a tight-knit team. In my team, there were regular meetings, and everyone was friendly, genuine and enthusiastic. As a result, we were all up to date with each other’s goals, challenges, and work; everyone was really willing to help out or ask for help as well. Additionally, being part of Bright Network as a whole reinforces this notion of teamwork – we celebrate all the successes together and everyone’s individual successes are appreciated as well.
My experience has been wonderful, and I’ve gained a lot of confidence and clarity moving forward. The past 6 months have been truly insightful – before starting, I was terrified of leaving university and starting a career, but now feel prepared and excited for the next stage.'
If you're looking for an internship or to follow in Seung's footsteps, check out our internships.