I would have never thought that I would be thinking as much about motherhood and the professional struggles that come with it as I did in the past couple of months.
When I first heard that we are supposed to do an internship during the course of our bachelor as communication science students, I always pictured myself interning at a big and well-known company, ideally within the corporate communication sector. With a couple of names in mind I started searching for internship positions at those companies, whereby I eventually stumbled upon a company called Every Mother Knows.
Every Mother Knows was far from what I was looking for. It wasn’t a big and well-known company, the internship position wasn’t related to corporate communication, and I would be interning in marketing and communications, a field I had never really considered. Nonetheless, I decided to apply and give it a try because what resonated with me the most was the mission and vision of the company, outweighing the fact that I would be operating in a field, I would not necessarily see myself working in, in the future. Every Mother Knows mission is to close the existing gender and talent-gap in today’s job market by assisting mothers with their return to the workforce after a parental break. The company assists mothers through career coaching, networking events, and offering support in finding a new job through their own talent-acquisition platform.
A few days later I had my first interview and was quite nervous about it. Turned out there was no reason to be nervous at all. I got the internship and would soon be starting in my position as a marketing and communications intern at Every Mother Knows. Over the course of my internship, I gained a lot of experience about social media marketing, email marketing as well as planning and promoting events. However, what stuck with me the most was seeing those mothers struggle to find a job despite having years and years of work experience and seeing how the rejection of their applications lowered their confidence every single time. It was a shocking but eye-opening experience, and it made me realize that this could be me in the future.
Overall, interning at a smaller and not well-known company turned out to be something I genuinely enjoyed and would be something where I could see myself in the future. I am glad that I was able to contribute to such a valuable mission to fight for more gender equality in today’s job market. I would advise any fellow soon-to-be interns to step out of their comfort zone and to find a company with a mission they are passionate about rather than being able to add a well-known company name to their CV.