Be Someone to Remember
Everyday when I walk into my internship at Siquis in Baltimore, as a junior account executive I don’t just try to do great work, but I try to make an impression on people. I make a point to say good morning to almost everyone in the office. Siquis is a small agency, they have about 30 people, so it isn’t that hard to make the effort to say good morning to them.
One thing that is important to me is that the people there will miss me when I’m gone. Not just miss my work and me helping, but miss my energy within the agency. As a junior account executive it is my main job to “manage my team”. This means making sure everyone is getting their tasks done by when they need to be done. I am always walking around the office checking in with art directors, copywriters, and programmers. Everyone has their own personality and it is my job to tailor how I interact with them so that they will do their job to the best of their abilities.
A happy employee that likes the person they are taking directions from will do better and more efficient work than when they are unhappy or don’t like how the account executive communicates to them.
I’ve tried to do a lot besides my work to show the people at Siquis that I love being a part of their team. One thing I’ve learned that it is the small things you do that matter and people do notice.
I always talk to people in the company kitchen when I’m making myself some coffee, I ask people to go out to lunch basically every Thursday. And often a group of 4 of us will go out for lunch together. One thing that I did that was a major success was that I brought decorations in for my office.
I brought in a painting that my girlfriend made me, a jellyfish paperweight, and my own little art project of a Ciroc bottle that I have filled with different colors of candle wax. Within a week of putting the Ciroc bottle up about 10 people stopped me from my work to hear about it and how I made it. I also always put my rubber bands from lunch onto my glass that I use for water. All these are small things, but I feel people notice it and they see that I’m trying to become part of their advertising family.
In addition to producing quality work, I am focused on being a very personable guy, always staying positive, knowing its okay to make mistakes, and trying my hardest. I think people really learned a lot about me and who I am, and I have learned about them. Simply, I try every day to do my best work, but also make it so that people will miss me as a person when I’m gone. 
Hi Aaron, it is such a rare scene for someone to put so much effort into their internship and work environment. That is truly admirable of you. I can really tell that you want to be a part of the family and create an ever lasting memory of yourself towards the team with all your actions. I, too make it to a point whenever I walk into the office, I make sure that I greet everyone positively and cheerfully and maybe sometimes strike a conversation about their weekend plans or their meals.
As an aspiring Account Manager, I believe it is important to be a genuine, friendly, personable and a good listener. With such traits, people will simply fall in love with your personality, showing how much you actually really care and show interest about their lives. I didn’t really bring in anything creative into the office because my desk was after all a public space where other staffs would need to use whenever I am not in the office.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience!