Remote Intra Placement Experience – Glory Semerang, MSc Marketing Innovation & Technology
I was given the opportunity to work as a marketing intern with a technology company called pTools Software which aids in process automation for financial services and governments. They are an Irish founded company with employees in France, South Korea and Czech Republic.
During my time here, I worked on some major projects. The main one being the company’s first ever virtual conference. I was able to create web pages and images that were used throughout the event. I also assisted in the company’s online webinars, blog posts and product launches.
Of course, due to COVID we rarely had physical interactions. Most meetings occurred via Zoom or slack. This led to some funny mishaps, like the time when a pet cat took over my manager’s keyboard or when children hijacked our zoom meetings. However, remote working highlighted to me that we were all learning and adapting together. Nobody was prepared for this and we all handled this lockdown in the best way we could by balancing work with fun things such as general catch-up calls and quiz nights.
With this position, I learned how important it is to ask questions before heading into a new task. Prior to this internship, I was a ‘try—fail—ask- ‘ person rather than an ‘ask—try—succeed’ individual. I realised that I had an element of pride in me that stopped me from admitting my shortcomings to another person, similar to Sheldon from Big Bang Theory who rarely asked for help. Now I know that if you’re working with someone who wants to see you succeed, it is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Nobody knows everything. A great example of this was when I was assigned a task that I had no idea how to do. My manager even offered to answer any questions that I had before I began the task. But I was so focused on being perceived as an independent employee (as that was what I believed employers liked in employees) that I disregarded his offer. I went ahead and complicated an easy task as a result of my need for independence. Whilst it is still good to try things out independently, no man is an island. I must remember that we are put into teams for a reason. After this, I started asking detailed questions before beginning any task and I realised that it made me much more efficient and led to me producing higher quality work. It was a long journey, but we got there in the end!
Was it tough? I don’t know, ask my blood pressure! But on a serious note, I suppose what really helped was having a team that supported me and wanted to see me grow & progress. My main piece of advice for future interns; Speak up, be adaptable & pay attention to every little detail.
