Introduce yourself and your role title
Hi, my name is Lucy and I’m an intern in the marketing team.
What are you studying and where are you at in your degree?
I’m currently a second-year student studying Commerce at the University of Melbourne.
What made you choose a marketing internship with Fuse?
After coming across their post in Grad in Australia, I was excited to apply since I have always been interested in both marketing and recruitment and had trouble deciding which career path I wanted to pursue.
I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to gain some first-hand experience that would help me to figure out which pathway I would like better.
I also stalked through Fuse’s social media platforms to try and see what kind of culture it was like at Fuse. After seeing so many posts with smiling faces in social events, I had a good feeling that Fuse would be a fun and warm environment to work in.
Initially, I applied for the recruitment intern at Fuse Recruitment since I liked the job description detailing that you would be able to take part and be involved in the whole process of recruitment. However, during my interview with Jeremy, Insurance & Wealth Management Team Leader VIC, when I expressed interest in both marketing and recruitment, he spontaneously called over Suz, Content Creator, to come and interview me.
After completing a few tasks, I was offered a marketing internship which I was so excited about!
Before stepping into the office on my first day, I was really nervous since this was my first internship and I didn’t know what to expect. However, I was greeted with the friendliest faces that made me feel so welcomed and comfortable.
During my first few weeks, I was learning to use Premiere Pro which I hadn’t used before to edit videos. I had a few tasks I needed to get through, but I also really wanted to do well in editing these videos since they will be posted on the website. However, at the start, it took me a long time to complete each video since I was still familiarising myself with all the tools and functions.
I struggled a bit in finding the balance between getting things done quickly but also getting them done well and above my standards. However, my team really helped me to think through this.
I learned from Suz that it’s important to have realistic expectations. I was reminded that it’s normal to take longer at the start but after practice, I will become more familiar with the software and produce even better results. This allowed me to be more gentle with myself and have healthy expectations of how much I can achieve in different seasons of my journey.
A lot of practice opportunities, helped me familiarise myself with it.
What did you find most enjoyable?
I think for me, the people really made it the most enjoyable experience. I still remember when the marketing team surprised me with a birthday cake on my birthday! It made me feel so loved and cared for. I realised how genuinely the team cared for each other at Fuse and it has been such a privilege to work alongside them.
I also really enjoyed the variety of tasks I was given and being able to learn how to use new software. Suz and I planned to catch up every 3 weeks to reflect upon which tasks I enjoyed and which ones I didn’t and then adjust my schedule based on it. This allowed me to be exposed to a wide area of marketing, which helped me in figuring out which areas I liked and be able to focus and learn more in these specific areas.
How did you find the culture at Fuse?
I think Fuse has the best work culture I’ve experienced before and after talking to many other employees, they all agreed as well! There are so many members that have stayed at Fuse for more than five years, and I think that just goes to show how much people enjoy working at Fuse!
What did you work on during your internship?
During my internship, I had the opportunity to work on both internal and external marketing.
For the internal marketing aspect, I worked on making designs through Canva to promote employee benefits that many weren’t aware of as well as designing banners for the Sydney office.
For the external marketing aspect, I worked on writing blogs for both candidates and clients and through this, I was able to grow my knowledge in SEO and blog structures. In addition, I was able to learn how to use Premiere Pro to edit profile videos and podcasts. Not only did I have the chance to create Instagram carousel designs to be used on Fuse’s social media, but I was also able to sit in on a few post-scheduling sessions.
What were some personal challenges you had to overcome and how did you overcome them?
I think juggling studies, work and university club involvements was quite tricky at the start since it seemed like there was so much to do but so little time. However, this helped me to really use every second I can get to be productive.
I started using the tram ride to work and back home to do little admin tasks for university clubs or to review lectures. I didn’t realise how much time I actually had until I added up these little blocks of time spread out throughout the day and used them effectively.
I also found it a bit difficult at first to adjust to the early mornings especially since I was so used to waking up late. At first, I thought it would be fine to sleep less for the days when I had work and just catch up on sleep the day after. However, I realised that the lack of sleep influenced my productivity and attention span. So, I would definitely recommend adjusting your sleep schedule from the start of your internship!
What did you learn from your internship and how has this helped you with your studies?
I have learned so many skills that are very transferable to my studies. The main one would definitely be time-management skills. In having been assigned different tasks with different due dates, it became really important to me to know what things to prioritise but also make sure not to neglect any duties.
At Fuse, we use a platform called Trello that acted like a to-do list which helped me to keep track of what tasks I needed to get done and how I should go about completing them. I think this will be extremely helpful for me especially when I have multiple assignments due during the same time since I could apply what I have learned during my internship to my studies.
I started using Google Calendar and Notion to be really helpful as I would list all the tasks I needed to get done each week and slot them into different days. This helped me not to get overwhelmed when I had a lot of tasks due but to break things apart and tackle them day by day.
In addition, one of the tasks I was given during my internship was to write blogs for the website. Coincidently, one of my assignments for my Digital Marketing class was also to write a blog. The firsthand knowledge and skills I gained from my internship could be directly applied to my studies.
What advice would you give to your peers who wanted to follow your path?
I would tell them that when they see an opportunity to go for it that how much they put in is how much they will get out of the internship!
I would also tell them to be eager to learn and be ok with not knowing anything at the start as everyone has to start somewhere.
Interested in interning at Fuse? Fill in the form on this page and let us know what you’re looking for! We’ll be in touch as soon as a vacancy opens up.
You can read the original article here: www.fuserecruitment.com/blog-intern