As a university graduate, and a new intern at OnQ Marketing I was asked to reflect back on my time at university and share my thoughts. One particular question came to mind.
Did university really provide me with the skills needed to jump into the workforce? Unfortunately, not as much as I expected it to way back when I first stepped on campus.
Looking back, I spent four and a half years of my life at university and I’m not quite sure what I’ve learnt. I finished up a year ago, and all I can remember from my marketing studies is the four P’s of marketing and group marketing plan assignments …every assignment was group marketing plans. Sure marketing plans are important, but there has got to be more to marketing than that? What though…?
Is it that they never taught us anything else, or the way they taught it doesn’t stick in your brain, I’m not sure, but either way students need to graduate with a feeling that they have the knowledge required to jump straight into a gradate position and do well. I never had that feeling; I am only getting that feeling now that I am doing work experience.
My Point
So what I’m trying to get at is the importance of work experience to university students. Not only does it look nice on your resume, but what you learn will be invaluable. I have only been working with OnQ for two weeks now and I must say I can already come out of this saying that I have definitely learnt a thing or ten about digital marketing. After only three days I feel like I have learnt more, gained more skills which can be transferred to other jobs than during my entire time at university. Not only that, but I find when you actively participate and get involved you are more likely to remember those skills in the future. If this is how I feel now, I really look forward to how I’ll feel after six weeks of work experience with OnQ.
My tips
Below are a few tips that would have really helped me out way back when…
Go out and get experience
Go out and get as much practical work experience as you can. As I mentioned above, that is where you really learn the skills needed in the marketing world, and getting hands on is the best way to actually remember these skills.
Don’t be scared to speak up
If you’re not getting what you want out of an internship, like stuck doing administration work, then speak up. You deserve to gain knowledge and experience from your internship, so tell them what it is you would like to learn. You don’t want to walk out of their after 5, 6, 7 weeks and realize you learnt nothing. I came out of a previous internship with the greatest database skills, but that’s it. In hindsight I really wish I had said something and came out of the experience with more than just Excel prowess.
The sacrifice
Yeah it’s not fun giving your services without any form of compensation for your hard work. After one or two internships you can get to the point where you’re sick of being a poor uni student and you just want money, so you stop volunteering in your desired field and just take up any job. My advice, being poor for a little longer is a sacrifice worth taking. The confidence knowledge provides you when applying for jobs, at interviews, and on that first day, knowing ‘yeah I can do that’ is priceless. Check out this post published on Mashable ‘Why Social Media Internships Should Never Be Unpaid‘.
Get busy on social media
All that time you spend procrastinating on social media instead of doing that assignment can actually help you. Use that time to build a presence on social media and create a network before you even hit the job market. You will be amazed at how many employers have a cheeky peek at you online profiles before even considering giving you an interview. Therefore, by engaging in social media, not only are you getting you name out there and giving these employers something to look at, you’re also creating your own work experience.
P.S. I’m taking social shares as votes for more permanent work at OnQ so please do a girl a favour and share this around.
