The Importance of Scheduling
At the end of December I was hired as an account management/copywriting intern by 20nine Design Studios. This was my first shot at the ‘big time’ as the only internship I’ve had before this semester was last summer and it was working for a small legal company which I acquired because my boss was a friend of my fathers. So going into this semester I had no idea what to expect. One of the first things I picked up on is something ad students have been told since day 1: the advertising world is extremely hectic. Every Monday we start the day in a production meeting, going through all the work that has to be done for that week. I left my first production meeting with my jaw on the floor in bewilderment of the amount of work that had to be done that week. However, as that week – and the subsequent others – flew by I have certainly learned a hell of a lot about the advertising world. I realized that despite its hectic nature I loved the work and the environment surrounding the creative process. Once I really became aware of my affinity for the nature of the advertising world, I started thinking about the internship process as well.
As an intern in any field of any industry, I believe, you are there to learn, to help in any way possible, and to build your experience/portfolio for when you’re ready to take the next step as a full-time employee. This semester I have been able to do all these things, but not as effectively as I would like. This is by no means the fault of 20nine, but instead my expectations of the internship process. Entering this semester I viewed the internship as another class; something where I would attend three days a week in the morning, get whatever work done that I could, and then head on to my other classes. Boy was I wrong! Only being there in the morning for three days a week, I’ve come to find that I miss out on useful meetings and information due to the hectic nature of the business; as I can’t expect them to schedule their work around getting information to their intern. Likewise, balancing a full class schedule along with my internship work done has made for some extremely busy days and a lot of back-and-forth emails.
This is not to say I have failed as an intern or have not enjoyed my internship but merely to point out my scheduling mistake, and to hopefully prevent any future intern hopefuls of making the same mistake. Had I scheduled my intern hours and class schedule appropriately, I would be able to accomplish more as both an intern and a student. As the saying goes “you live and you learn” and I have certainly learned a lot. I hope to stay at 20nine for the summer to ensure that I can get a more complete experience and take full advantage of the opportunity presented in front of me.
