As a Marketing Intern at Lynn Hazan & Associates, I have completed a variety of duties. Due to LH&A being a small firm, less than ten people, it is critical interns have proficient knowledge of computer programs and learn new skills quickly because no one intern specializes in a specific area. While interns may be more advanced in certain areas compared to others, all interns will complete priority assignments.

            In the morning, the team has a phone call or Skype meeting to discuss what’s new and what needs to completed. Once the morning brief concludes, and information is shared, interns are assigned tasks by the President of the firm. Intern tasks are dependent on where the firm is in the recruitment process for a position. For example, when the firm obtains a new job to recruit for, all interns search for places to promote the opening and reach potential candidates. Upon this task’s completion, which could take days, interns will then search for potential candidates to fill the position. Teamwork is a critical component of our success, which is why we must be expert communicators. Constant communication ensures there is no overlap in the work we complete. When a potential candidate gets discovered, we reach out with a letter of inquiry, so we must verify with one another the status of the potential candidate. We do not want to message the same person more than once since it could result in rejection due to spam. Once the potential candidate is interviewed and accepts an offer, which could take weeks, the LH&A website is updated to reflect the fill.

            While the overview above is broad, there are much smaller intricacies that interns must perform to be successful. For example, coming into this internship, I was unfamiliar with web design and content creation. However, job promotions and advertisements taught me how to expand my skills. Visuals are significant to the success of a job promotion. It is what catches the eye of a job seeker. Due to the threat of copyright laws and lawsuits, I could not simply take an image from Google; instead, I had to find a free visual or create my own. Mind you some interns were undoubtedly more experienced than me in this aspect of marketing, but at LH&A, it is a core value that we all learn. Therefore, even though I lacked the content creation experience, I was assigned this duty until I became adept.

            Learning new hard skills has been fulfilling, but learning new soft skills, like how to be a strong leader, has been more rewarding. Since I was the first intern to join LH&A this summer, I have slightly more knowledge of the firm and industry compared to the other interns. Because of this, when our President’s time is limited and more assistance is needed, interns contact me to ask questions and walk them through their tasks. Before they officially joined the team, I had already completed the assignments they were doing for the first time. So, I was able to assist them adequately. This experience has taught me how to be patient, available, and confidant.

            Overall, this experience has been a learning one. With no previous marketing experience, I have not been able to utilize the marketing skills I learned at DePaul in the professional working world until I took this internship opportunity. My writing and communication skills have improved, along with my critical thinking skills, content creation skills, leadership skills, and market research skills.