The Top 5 Things I Learned During my Internship

I am sad to say my time here at Harmelin is coming to a close. I have really enjoyed getting to know the media buyers and planners and, of course, my fellow interns. As I am preparing to say goodbye, I have developed a short list of the top 5 most important things I’ve learned here.

1. I love media buying & planning.
I was told that the point of an internship is to feel out a potential job and make sure that it’s what you want to do. It is sort of like a taste test. I thought I might enjoy media planning but now I know for sure that I would love to do it professionally.

2. Telephones aren’t as scary as I thought.
I had a slight case of telephobia when I came here. (It probably stems from the fact that I am a product of the texting/e-mailing/instant messaging generation.) Anyway, the first time I had to call out to California to confirm advertising rates, I had a terrible pit in my stomach. Now, after making a few more phone calls, I have no problem making phone calls across the country.

3. I’m a pro at data entry.
That’s silly; I know. I did a lot of data entry work into Excel and other programs so I was glad I had a good understanding. It meant I could do the work faster and spent a lot less time fumbling my way through tools. (My advice to any other potential interns: be familiar with Excel. Open it up, play with data sorting and other features. You’re going to need it so make sure you have a functional understanding.)

4. People want your help.
Talk to everyone. Ask them what you can do for them. There have been some slow days where I didn’t have much to work on but there have been some busy days too. Always ask what you can do to help. It makes you seem eager and people appreciate that.

5. People want to help you.
I was so lucky to work with such a great team. If I ever had a question about a program functioned or even how the company itself operated, they were glad to provide me with an answer. They wanted to help me understand and learn as much as I could. Don’t be afraid to ask questions because people want to provide answers. Talk to the other interns too. Everyone has something for you to learn.

So, with that, I bid adieu to Harmelin Media. I have made some great connections here and I really appreciate all of the knowledge they gave me.