The Corporate Life is the Life for Me
Hello fellow Owls! I’m Leah, a junior advertising major on the account management track. For the spring semester, I’ve had the privilege of interning with the world’s leading food, facilities, and uniform services company, Aramark. Previously, I held three other internship positions, all within one boutique agency. When I accepted my position with Aramark, a sense of fear overwhelmed me. Would I be able to handle a corporate setting? Would the work be too challenging for me that I would not be able to do my best? Was I making too big of a jump after working in the same place for eight months? These questions constantly flooded my mind, until I set foot in the office on my first day.
Working with a billion-dollar corporation seems daunting, I’ll admit. However, the experience of working in a corporate setting is refreshing; it’s not as stressful as it’s made up to be. Currently, I am the only intern in Aramark’s digital marketing department. In my role, I manage and track the main website’s Google Analytics account, I publish content and send out emails to over 20,000 recipients, and I also work on a national campaign called Feed Your Potential 365– a partnership with the American Heart Association– and various other projects. So far, this experience has been nothing short of amazing; I have learned more in the past three months than I could have ever imagined! I’ve increased my skills in Google Analytics tremendously (I even became certified!), learned a variety of new platforms, including Sitecore and Spredfast, and also learned about myself as a professional.
Truthfully, I never thought I would want to work in a corporate setting; I thought my calling would be in an agency. Despite my original thoughts, I learned very quickly that working in a corporate setting is something I really enjoy, and would like to continue to do for a career. In the corporate setting, I feel there is a bit more structure versus an agency. Personally, I enjoy having that structure and constant feeling of stability. Also, every day in the office I meet someone new. During my time here, I have met some of the most devoted and passionate professionals. Everyone here loves their job; it’s inspiring and makes me love what I do.
From my experience here, it has become clear to me that I want to pursue a career with digital marketing post-graduation. I love watching executions flourish and becoming successful and determining what to fix based on true results. Looking back, my worries were completely unnecessary, and I was selling myself short. Working here has made me more confident in my professional self and experiences. With all of this, I am also excited to share I was offered to extend my internship on through the summer and fall. The corporate life is the life for me, and I’m thrilled to extend this journey!
