An Ad Agency Intern’s Perspective
My Time at The BLU Group
My name is Melissa Hubanks and I am currently a senior at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse pursuing a Major in Marketing and a Minor in Professional and Organizational Communication. I am expected to graduate in December of 2012 with a Bachelor of Science. Like other students, I was feeling the pressures of the real world lingering around the corner and I wasn’t quite ready. I knew that I needed an internship experience to support my education.
While searching for internships around the La Crosse, WI area, nothing caught my attention until I came across The BLU Group – Advertising & Marketing. Every other organization described their internship programs in the same unappealing matter, so when The BLU Group’s website stated that, “we can promise you a wealth of knowledge, a great learning environment, and some kick ass people to hang out with,” I knew they were the right fit for me. I knew I wanted to work with a group people who I could talk and joke openly with but who also genuinely care about my education and experience as an intern. After I reached out to The BLU Group, I was invited in for an interview and to meet the team. Everything from that point on is history and I have been an intern for The BLU Group for the past 3 months.
I will never forget my first day; I walked into the office with the same nervous feelings as having a first date. I wanted everyone to like me and to establish a positive relationship with The BLU Group. When I sat in on my first departmental meeting, I thought to myself, “these people are nuts.” The way they were speaking to one another and discussing topics wasn’t anything I had every expected from small marketing firm. They tell it to each other straight, even if it means raising their voices every now and then.
Although life at a small marketing agency is different than what I had expected, I couldn’t be more satisfied. Each and every day at The BLU Group is different. Tasks range from listening to different conversations between members and clients to taking out the garbage or doing dishes. My favorite days include developing marketing plans and assisting in the creative development of projects. The anxiety associated with exams and projects in school doesn’t fade away, because I get just as anxious to hear what everyone thinks about a project that I completed. In the same way that I don’t want to fail a class, there is more pressure associated with my internship because I don’t want to disappoint the team or the client.
I am thankful for the variety of work that The BLU Group offers for their interns, because it allows interns to experience all of the different aspects of advertising and marketing. The BLU Group has provided the experience that is necessary for interns to learn and obtain vital skills to prepare them for the real world. I get to learn and observe the appropriate traits expected of marketing professionals such as being proactive, assertive, and inquisitive.
On The BLU Group’s website they state that “interns have learned more in 3 months here than they did in 4 years at school.” At first I didn’t think that was possible, but I am living proof that this statistic is true. I am allowed to apply what I have learned in the classroom to the real world by working with real clients and experiencing real outcomes. An internship with The BLU Group provides the knowledge and experiences that the classroom simply cannot provide for students. The BLU Group continues to help me to develop professionally while continuing to learn the ever-changing marketing industry. I look forward to the rest of my internship at The BLU Group.
Melissa Hubanks, Intern Extraordinaire
