When Opportunity Knocks: My Experience Interning at Nine Dots

Hello, my name is Hannah Weiss! I am currently a junior Advertising major at Temple University with a concentration in Art Direction. While pursuing the Art Direction track, I’m able to use my coursework as an outlet to express my creativity through both digital media, and concept ideas.

In the final months of my sophomore year, I was lucky to have an amazing professor, Geoffrey Klein, offer me an internship position as a Creative Marketing Intern for his company, Nine Dots. Nine Dots is a production company that specializes in video animation. As someone who thrives off of coming up with stories and bringing my ideas to life, this opportunity seemed like the perfect way to begin my creative advertising journey.

Throughout my college career, I’ve grown very fond of anything I can create digitally. Using programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator have become everyday habits for me, and interning at Nine Dots has allowed me to turn these interests into something I can use in a career. Despite Adobe platforms being my comfort zone, I was required to learn various other platforms such as Hootsuite and Mailchimp, which I would’ve never learned about if it weren’t for Nine Dots.

As a Creative Marketing Intern, my main responsibilities include creating template graphics for Nine Dots’ social media accounts, as well as creating the layout, design, and copy for the company’s emails. These tasks taught me creative concept and layout tips, and unexpectedly taught me just how important it is to understand your business’ algorithm and how to attract customers. Little aspects such as the time you post content, the caption you use, and the visuals all play a massive role in what makes a successful social media post or email. 

The biggest lesson Nine Dots has taught me is not to be afraid to ask questions. The point of an internship is to grow and find out what you are interested in and passionate about. The people you work with want to see you succeed and want to help you become the best version of yourself. If you are ever lost or need an opinion on something, reaching out, whether it’s to a fellow intern or your supervisor, is the easiest way to curb your confusion and help you thrive in your career. 

To any fellow students looking to start their first internship, when an opportunity knocks, be the first person to answer the door. The only way to grow and explore your passions is to experience them firsthand. Don’t dwell on the little things so much that you miss the amazing opportunities right in front of you. You always can make room for new knowledge. Don’t miss out on something just because you think you aren’t skilled enough. How will you learn if you don’t try? 

Heading into my junior year as an advertising student, I can confidently say my summer interning at Nine Dots has taught me tons of valuable lessons I will carry into my future advertising career. From getting first-hand experience with graphic design, managing email campaigns, and collaborating with fellow interns, I can say Nine Dots successfully prepared me for the advertising world ahead. I look forward to the rest of my education at Temple and what the future holds!