May 28th, 2019
I arrived in Ireland exactly 12 days ago. Today I completed my 6th day of my internship with Maxmedia. Part of me feels like I just got here, while another part of me feels like I’ve been doing this for months. My experience thus far with my internship has been mostly positive, but also filled with a lot of adjusting and learning. That can sometimes be a little painful and stressful, but that’s how I know that there is growth happening.
Maxmedia is a small content creation agency based in County Dublin in the small coastal village of Dalky. Everyone has been very friendly and welcoming and the open, modern office set up has allowed me to really feel like part of the group quickly. My first few days were mostly spent intaking information and getting set up with all the necessary accounts and such. A lot of the staff work from home or even from the UK, which makes the office dynamic very interesting. They use the application, Slack, which acts as a sort of internal messaging system that allows everyone to stay connected whether we’re right across the room or in a different country. Getting to know how the office works is almost as important as figuring out what work I am doing.
Last summer I interned with Geokon Inc. back in the US which was a vastly different experience. My role focused mainly on the overall marketing strategy and research for a company-wide rebrand. This industry was mainly business to business marketing which gave me really great experience. In contrast, Maxmedia is consumer marketing based and creates content for other companies. Their main focus is creating content for Tourism Ireland’s website which helps customers to plan trips to Ireland. They do this using a content management system (CMS) called Sitecore to manage this as well as systems such as Trello to keep track of their production process. My duties thus far have included finding images for social media and updating backlog articles. I’ve only been working with Sitecore for a few days but, I already can feel myself becoming more comfortable with the platform. Once I got over the initial fear of accidentally messing up Tourism Irelands website, I was able to start working with the system and actually mess up Tourism Irelands website!… just kidding, but I did have to email tech support today.
One of the biggest differences I was able to identify this week was between business to business marketing and consumer based marketing. This is unlike anything I’ve done before, and especially at the international level, there are really important aspects that I had never considered before. One of the biggest ones is all the stuff that we can’t talk about. The audience for this content is world-wide so it’s really important to understand world news so that we aren’t saying something that offends or creates controversy. In order to effectively market Ireland, there’s a lot of things that cannot be mentioned. It’s also really important to take into account the cultural differences that exist around the world. For example, drinking alcohol in Ireland is very much part of the culture, however in France, discussion about drinking is frowned upon. Many differences like this require extreme caution and thoughtfulness when creating content.
One of my real high points thus far was this morning when I finally conquered my commute and arrived to work 15 minutes early! I really didn’t think it was going to be so difficult but the bus system in Dublin can be very difficult to master. A low point for me happens every morning as I struggle to get out of bed at 6:30 am. Getting sleep has proven to be difficult when living in such a social environment.
The NACE skill that I used most this past week was professionalism and work ethic. Coming into a new environment with people who didn’t know me, it was really important to prove myself and let them know that I am serious about this internship. Communication and punctuality are key in getting this point across and I’ve been paying extra attention to those this past week as I try to make the best impression I can. Obviously, I’ll need to continue exercising this skill throughout my time here, but especially in these first few weeks.
I’m starting to get over the initial fears and beginning to feel more comfortable in my placement. I’m excited to seewhere this summer will take me and what I’ll be able to gain professionally from this internship.
Dublin Internship 