Daniel Mulvihill, BSc Marketing Innovation & Technology

“Nothing Adventured, Nothing Attained”

Daniel Mulvihill, BSc Marketing Innovation & Technology, spoke to us about his INTRA placement in Peru:

Last year for my INTRA work placement, two of my classmates and I went to Peru to work for a company called Tourism Holdings Latam. This is the umbrella name for a few tourism companies that started with Peru Hop, a hop-on, hop-off bus company that goes from Lima (Peru’s capital – where we were working) to Cusco (close to Machu Picchu – one of the 7 wonders of the world!).

The purpose of this internship was to gain valuable experience in the field of marketing (especially digital) and in the workforce in general. Peru Hop was a start-up company, not even four years old, when I began working there. This gave me a unique opportunity to learn more about the ins and outs of starting and running a company successfully. The company founders, Dubliners Will Whelan and Conor McAteer, run a tight ship but were extremely open to teaching us as much as we were willing to learn for the time we were there.

“Working with Tourism Holdings Latam was one of the highest quality experiences I could have asked for with respect to my INTRA and for further employment. Working at such a young start-up meant we got a really hands-on experience and being on the other side of the world, we learned things about culture, language and tourism we never would have otherwise.”

When myself and my classmates, Cathal and Kaan, first arrived in Peru, the team was still relatively small and we immediately began working on the company’s digital marketing. I started on the social media side of things while the guys got more involved in SEO and Google Adwords. Over time we moved around and each of us got experience in each area. This was great because although we’d learned the theory of these different digital marketing techniques in college, putting them into practicing in Peru Hop really helped me understand how they work. I picked up skills that are essential for most companies using digital marketing today and that I will without doubt use in future.

The longer we worked in the company, the bigger the team grew, the more we learned and the more responsibility we were given with regards to tasks. While I continued to work on social media content, I also started working a bit more on content creation for the website where I could be a bit more creative. I started writing blog pieces, website content and scripts for videos. These tasks then developed into working on the designs for different website pages, company flyers and event posters. I’ve always had an artistic side so once I began working on these tasks, I found myself really enjoying what I was doing and becoming more productive than I had ever been.

Personally, I not only learned an immeasurable amount that I will be able to use in my career but also a whole new range of life skills from spending a year in a completely new culture and environment. I’d highly recommend anyone interested in travelling for their INTRA year to do so!

INTRA (INtegrated TRAining) is DCU’s internship programme. It is an accredited and highly valued part of student learning and has been at the heart of the DCU experience for more than 30 years.

INTRA offers students the opportunity to gain relevant paid work experience while giving employers a way to connect their business with ambitious, energetic students who can bring specialist skills, motivation, energy and new ideas into the work place. It can also enable employers to discover and identify talented future graduates.