For my internship, I worked for an online gallery platform called Victory Art based in Rotterdam. It focuses on promoting artists and artworks come from Central and Eastern Europe area. Victory Art is also a startup that was founded in 2018 by the owner Viktória Pikovská. This internship is my first internship. Unlike doing part-time jobs like working in a cafe, this working experience in a startup helped me gain some unique experiences. My position was marketing intern, and later on, my role has adjusted a bit more into something I am more interested in.
However, I would say that having office life isn’t that exciting as I first imagined. Before I started my internship, I took marketing as a fascinating job where I got to actively be involved in every project and all the great ideas that I could apply to each project. However, during the first month of my internship, all I did was editing blogs and sending emails. I was distraught because this is nothing like my version of working as a marketing intern. Therefore, I talked to my internship supervisor from UvA about my situation at that moment, she encouraged me to speak with my supervisor at the company. So I did, and guys, believe me, communication is essential. Whether it is communication with your boss or colleagues, it is always good to express your feelings to them directly. Because when you don’t talk about it, others will think you are fine with everything. After talking with my boss, she had a better understanding of what I was looking for in this internship. At the same time, I also had clear ideas of her plan for my internship.
One benefit of working in a startup is that one can have a lot of freedom when it comes to decision-making for projects. When I started creating a seminar program for artists, I had the freedom to decide what I think is the most important information that artists should know nowadays. I really enjoyed that part of the job. But, it can be hard at some point due to the lack of frameworks. To overcome these moments, I have learned that asking questions and feedbacks might be the best way to get a better idea of what my boss wants.
Throughout my internship, I have the chance to participate in some of the new projects. Being part of these projects, I have improved my writing skills and research skills. Moreover, before I got this internship, I had never thought of working in the gallery field. So for me, this is a good experience in working in a different specialization.