Turning Internships Into Career Attitudes

My name is Kristen Goreski and I am a senior advertising major with a concentration in media planning and account management. This semester, I was fortunate enough to intern at Brian Communications within their Integrated Marketing department. Although my time there was cut short due to COVID-19, I gained a lot of knowledge about the public relations industry and how it has a direct relationship with advertising. While this is my third internship, my time at Brian was distinctively different from past experiences not because of the projects or work, but because of the culture of the company.

When looking for an internship, it is so important to be aware of how the team interacts with each other as well as with their interns. These interactions have the ability to make or break your experience. When a team is willing to help you grow professionally it makes the experience more valuable. From the first day of my internship to the last, it was evident that everyone was willing to help the intern team and encouraged us to ask questions. Every Brian team member was extremely approachable, allowing me to never feel intimidated to ask someone a question.

My advisor, Vince, always made sure I understood the tasks I was assigned and did not hesitate to help when I had a question. Since he graduated only four  years ago from Villanova, he had great advice about entering into the advertising industry after graduation and how to set yourself apart as an entry level candidate. One thing he emphasized was how important it is to maintain relationships with people you work with and continue to make connections. Last year, I interned at the same agency he previously worked at,  but we never met. It goes to show how small the advertising industry is in Philadelphia and how valuable each experience and interaction is! 

I looked forward to every Monday and Wednesday that I went to Brian Communications. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming and made me feel like a valued team member. When looking for future jobs, I will always make sure to ask about the culture of the company. For example, I might ask the following: Do people tend to work together or alone? Are there any team building workshops or other activities that the team does together? I will always remember how well I was treated at Brian and if I ever have an intern during my career, I will make sure to treat them the same way. 

Thank you Brian Communications for making my last internship such a memorable and valuable experience!