27 Jul 2012
Posted by AWSC 
On June 25, 2012, I decided that I knew what I wanted to do “when I grow up”.
I kept reminding myself that this was only for my immediate career post-grad, because I have a long life to live (crossing my fingers!) and there are just too many opportunities in life to just stay in one place. I also don’t know the absolute specifics as to what this immediate career path may be.
But thanks to my summer in NYC, I think I have a pretty good idea.
This summer has been quite the change of pace for me. As a suburban Chicago native attending school in “upstate” New York, I was offered the distinguished opportunity to intern at G2 USA in New York City. Although I’ve never been the biggest fan of NYC – mainly because of my Chicago bias – I immediately accepted the position based on three factors that helped me determine what I wanted to gain from my summer experience:
- A strong internship program
- Experience in an agency culture
- An opportunity to do something and be somewhere that I’ve never been
Needless to say, these factors were all fulfilled by G2′s offer.
The internship program offered by G2 was everything that I was looking for and more. As an account management intern in the Branding and Design department, I’ve had an amazing experience so far, getting hands-on experience with our clients.
In addition to my responsibilities within my department, each week, the interns attend seminars hosted by various sectors within the agency. This gives us all an opportunity to learn about the different contributions that drive G2’s success – including strategy, creative, shopper marketing and data analytics.
These seminars have not only been beneficial toward learning about the agency structure, but also in learning where my potential future interests may lie.
In addition to learning about the agency through seminars, we interns also have the opportunity to apply our experiences through a summer project.
The summer 2012 intern class was divided into “Team G” and “Team 2”. Each team functions as a small agency, creating a pitch to present to some of the power players here at G2.
I honestly can’t even express how excited I am for this!
So thanks to my time thus far at G2 USA, I know that I want to be in this industry.
Hands down.
But this internship hasn’t been the only factor in my decision.
Similar to school, it’s important to get involved outside of your main environment. In school, you have class and you have extracurricular activities. The two combine to create a fantastic experience. This summer, I intern during the day and take advantage of networking events at night and on weekends.
And I’ve been to some pretty cool events.
On June 30, I attended Social Media Day NYC hosted by Mashable and Motorola. Not only did I have the opportunity to meet founders of many different start-ups, but I also had the pleasure to meet Pete Cashmore, CEO and Founder of Mashable. You can check out my Storify for the event here.
I’ve also attended an event with Bing and HerCampus to launch the new search engine, in addition to the Women In Media Mentoring Initiative hosted by AOL and the Huffington Post.
My biggest piece of advice from the summer so far?
Take advantage of everything.
Eventbrite has been a great resource to find some awesome, free networking events around the city.
So again, this summer, I’ve decided that this is the industry for me. I’ve also decided that NYC isn’t so bad after all – even though Chicago will always hold a special place in my heart.
If I’ve taken anything away from this summer, it’s that I feel confident in my abilities moving forward.
And I think I’m going to be just fine.
