I read an interesting article in Digiday yesterday about “Advertising’s Hottest Internships”. The information was quite intriguing, and definitely share-worthy, which inspired us to give a behind-the-scenes look into our internship program here at Response Marketing.
As many college graduates know, finding a job post-graduation in your field can be quite a challenge if you don’t know the right people or if you don’t already have any experience within the industry. Getting a job in the marketing industry means climbing the ladder, just like many other jobs out there. The best way to get your foot in the door at a marketing agency is starting with an internship. Here at Response, we have a few key points of criteria that we look for in our candidates.
We receive resumes on a weekly basis from college students who have done their research on Response through our website and Facebook page, and feel that they may be a strong contributing asset to the agency. They may have also realized that we aren’t afraid to have FUN at work, which is certainly a desirable factor for a current student or recent college graduate making the transition into real life. Plus, we get to work with some pretty amazing clients. Who could ask for anything better right? So it’s only natural that they send their resume along.
When it comes time for us to hire an intern, we sit down in our Think Tank and begin looking over all of the resumes we’ve received. We typically have about 30 resumes each semester, from which we narrow down the selection to about 6 solid candidates. We prefer students who are going into, or already in, their Junior or Senior years, and are majoring in marketing, communication, or public relations. However, we have chosen sophomores who have had experience in the marketing scene. We want interns with great writing skills, ample marketing knowledge, a creative spark, and someone who is comfortable navigating social media and the digital space.
Once the 6 lucky candidates are chosen, we reach out to them to see if they are still interested in interning with Response. After the excitement subdues, and the interview is scheduled, we send out a secondary email to see how creative they can really get. As most marketing agencies will agree, we want interns that are passionate, creative, and driven. We work in a face paced environment, and we need to know that our interns are up for the challenge. The candidate interns are given a test assignment to see how creative and strategic they can get in a short time frame. The interns have only about week to prepare this assignment for their interview. On the day of the interview, they will present their ideas.
After presenting their ideas, we sit down to have a relaxed conversation and really get to know the intern. Of course we want someone who will work hard and push the creative limits, but since we are a family at Response, we look for someone who will fit easily into our culture. We are a silly, awkward, outgoing group that works hard, but also plays hard.
We have been very lucky to have found a lot of amazing interns, and most have continued on to intern for longer than our one semester sessions. We’re waiting for you, interns! Apply away!