It had been a long stressful process, finding an internship. Hours and hours spent going through all the different internships available on linked in and indeed, filling out forms, and writing emails. Luckily, through all this work, I found an opening at Vice Benelux for a Digital Media intern. Without a second thought, I sent in my application and hoped it was good enough to be selected.
I had already been offered 3 other positions when I got called in for an interview. When I stepped into the office, I felt a rush that I did not feel at any of the interviews I went to before. A week after my interview, they called me to tell they would love to have me as a part of their team, and obviously, I said yes. Who wouldn’t want to intern a world famous media company?
Briefly, Vice is a renowned media company which focuses on youth and young-adult targeted digital media. Vice focuses on investigative journalism and enlightening videos about everything from world news, fashion, travel, drugs, politics, sports are more. I had always known about Vice, and followed them on social media sites and read their articles. I had also always been interested in marketing. Therefore, an internship at Vice in their Digital Operations department where I got to help with the marketing campaigns on their websites was incomparable.
My main tasks included helping campaign managers and the Ad Operations team in their everyday tasks. My responsibilities ranged from setting up campaigns to reporting on the ongoing campaigns, communicating with publishers and Facebook boosting. I decided to use Facebook Boosting as my research topic where I studied how different types of posts affect online engagement. In the last two months, I was responsible for my own campaigns and got to work with some well-known brands, which was very exciting. Through the internship, I learned a lot about online marketing, social media marketing, external communication, data analyzing and reporting. I was also taught how to use different platforms such as Google Analytics, DFP and Facebook business manager. Apart from practical skills, I also learned a great deal about teamwork, trust, and compassion through my colleagues. One of the most important lessons that I learned during my internship was, how important it is to have fun while working. I was part of a team with people of all ages and many nationalities, and even though I was the youngest in the team, I never felt out of place.
Overall, the last 5 months were a blast. I won’t deny that I had a few stressful days, but over time you learn how to deal with that stress and how to stay focused on your work. At Vice, I was never treated as a typical intern, there was a gradual increase in the responsibilities given to me, and I was always treated as an integral part of the team. I guess that is also one of the things that motivated me to work harder and do better every day.
I would very much recommend an internship at Vice!
Not only will you learn more than you expect, you’ll have double the fun than you would presume. Not to forget, the free Vice Merch you get!