I heard through the professorial grapevine that senior Jay Chase enjoyed the internship he had this past semester at Venables Bell & Partners, and he agreed to take part in my Internship Ideas blog. Here we go…
Q: Where are you interning?
Jay: “I interned at Venables Bell & Partners, a full-service advertising agency in the heart of San Francisco’s Financial District. VB&P creates advertisements in a variety of mediums to satisfy the client’s creative goals and tailor brand messages that will best reach target consumers. The agency prides itself on a platform of honesty with its clients and integrity with its employees. The company mantra, ‘our intentions are good’ maintains that excellent work can only happen when you treat your people right. The result of this is an agency filled with young, exciting talent unafraid to pursue radical ideas and create meaningful creative that doesn’t merely assert dry commerce into the public sphere, but actively adds to the culture through thoughtful work. Some of VB&P’s current clients include Audi, Intel, CLEAR, Montana Meth Project, and PG&E. VB&P has around 200 employees and remains an independent agency. It prides itself on being essentially recession-proof, having started in 2001 and grown consistently and fearlessly through this tough economic period.”
Q: How did you find the internship?
Jay: “I was tipped off about the internship from Professor Pabst. VB&P’s human resource department reached out to him looking for interns, and he forwarded the email to me. I followed up and received a call a week later. After that, I had about three separate group interviews over the next 2 weeks.”
Q: Why did you choose to intern there?
Jay: “Advertising Age, the chief industry publication, listed VB&P on their list of Top Ten Ad Agencies for 2010. As soon as I looked into the agency, I knew what I was looking at was a truly rare opportunity. Their work is exciting and innovative, and they treat their employees with respect. Plus they have ping-pong, foosball, pizza and a keg on Friday so that doesn’t hurt either.”
Q: Why do you do on a regular basis at your internship?
Jay: “I worked in account management for CLEAR, a provider of 4G mobile broadband internet access. For those unfamiliar with advertising, account managers are those who work managing client relationships and expectations, manage traffic and work with research and brand strategy to capitalize on brand opportunities. On a regular day, I would compose presentations based upon my research to present to my superiors, which they would pick over for useful information to submit to the client. One of my chief duties was competitive analysis. Also, I composed a weekly newsletter that highlighted relavent company and industry news to be sent throughout the CLEAR team. I worked with media plans, sat in on meetings, and even took part in product naming workshopping.”
Q: What have you learned from your internship?
Jay: “Interning is worth it. If nothing else, it gives you a first perspective on what kind of work pace you’re dealing with. I was surprised at how quickly things move and how attentive you have to be at all times. I learned how best to liase with my co-workers, work in a team setting, and what skills I want to develop as a professional. But mostly, I learned that I am perfectly capable to run with the big boys and produce good work. Interning for me was finally turning training into practice, and affirmation that I have been adequately prepared.”
Q: What advice do you have for other students looking for an internship?
Jay: “Shoot as high as you can. In went into this internship with no prior intern experience. The competition for the few intern spots was pretty rough. Instead, I put together a resume that showcased not only my academics but my soft skills, my personality and my ambition. Just take a chance and show them a bit of the real you, not the you that is desperate-to-get-hired-and-will-say-anything-in-the-interview. Also, I would advise students to not kill themselves with pressure. When I went in there, I heard all the people that had told me ‘you have to network all the time, meet everyone you can!,’ and, ‘learn this, go there, do that!’ While being ambitious is never a bad thing, don’t kill yourself. You don’t have to meet and smile at every successful superior and friend them on LinkedIn. Instead, make relationships with a good group of people you can see keeping in touch with. Otherwise, you’re just spreading yourself thin trying to please everyone all the time, and that is an exhausting way to live for six months. Just learn what you can, be assertive and hang in there.”
Jay catching a wave
I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but aren’t our students impressive? Congratulations to Jay on his internship! Do you have an internship that you enjoy? Or would you like to hear about a specific type of internship experience? Let me know at edoohan@usfca.edu.
