An insight from our Marketing Intern

in Company news

Hi, I’m Chica and I’m proud to announce that I am The ai Corporation’s (ai)  first marketing intern! Before starting at ai, I didn’t know what to expect. I had only previously worked in public facing, customer service roles so the office environment was unfamiliar to me.

I’m really immersing myself in to the professional environment (as well as adjusting to adulthood!) whilst studying International Tourism Management at the University of Surrey, I begin third year in October 2017. I’d love share some insight in to my internship here at ai.

Typical day at the office

On my first day the team were very welcoming, I was given my own desk, a work email address and key fob – four weeks later and I already feel settled in with a full to-do list covering a real variety of tasks across Marketing and beyond.

My day usually begins with a bit of multi-tasking, responding to emails and drinking my breakfast smoothie. My manager Sam and I have a weekly catch up every Monday morning where we discuss the main areas of focus for the week ahead, I then write weekly and daily to-do-lists to ensure I keep organised and complete all my tasks.

Around mid-morning, I’ll start looking at one of my main projects, at the moment I am working on our annual customer satisfaction survey whilst audiotyping for our product demos – which can take hours. I enjoy audiotyping as I feel I am developing my typing skills which will definitely come in handy when I’m trying to keep up in lectures. I typically have a late lunch as I feel I’m more productive before 3pm.
After lunch, I usually finish up on my smaller tasks which can vary from ordering merchandise and creating internal communications to sending out some final emails, then I leave at 5pm.

What I love about working at ai

Aside from being extremely excited about having my own desk – my favourite thing about working here is the close-knit, friendly environment and how supportive my manager Sam is. Before I started, Sam expressed that she wanted this internship to enhance and add value to my studies. On my first day, we reviewed my personal objectives and then discussed how they can be achieved during my time here.
There are a great deal of things I want to learn from this opportunity, one of my aims is to explore the different avenues of marketing and so far, I’ve been given so many different tasks; from managing social media and reviewing our competitors marketing activity to assisting in event organisation and improving ai’s SEO. I’ll also be doing a presentation and (hopefully) writing more blogs to improve my communication and writing abilities.

Customer experience plan

Customer Experience is ai’s primary focus for 2017 and beyond and I am currently working through a customer experience plan designed to improve customer service internally with employees and externally with customers. In order to improve our external practices, I designed a customer satisfaction survey. Once we have analysed the results, we will use it to develop and implement changes to meet the customers’ needs and demands.
To improve internal practices, I helped organise a customer experience workshop with training from an expert in the pub industry and a delicious three-course meal! I gained transferable skills and found the workshop fun and informative. As it took place in my second week, I thought it was a great way to get to know my colleagues.

Future plans

I’d like to take everything I learn here at ai and integrate it into my studies. My future is currently centered on my education as I start the final year of my degree in October 2017, I’ll then go on to a master’s in business and management (marketing).
In just three weeks, I’ve learnt so much and have gained invaluable experience I wouldn’t have learnt in lectures at university. I’m so grateful for the opportunity and I cannot wait to see what the next 8 weeks bring!

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