A Day in the Life of a (Mostly) Remote Intern
Amid quarantine while being at home in Illinois, I found a listing for an internship in digital marketing, which is my favorite thing. Not thinking much of it, I applied. I was shocked to receive an interview and land the job for this school year. All of this was happening as COVID-19 kept surprising us, so I thought, now what? Luckily, my boss offers a flexible schedule to work mostly remote and come into the office when I see fit. Here’s a sneak peek into the new normal life as a remote intern.
Daily Tasks
I’m currently interning at RED66 Marketing in Grand Rapids. My position as a Digital Marketing Intern can all be done on the computer - which makes sense as it is digital marketing. Here are a few tasks I do regularly:
-Create content for RED66 Marketing social platforms
-Schedule & publish content for RED66 Marketing social platforms
-Create & edit websites for clients
-Write blogs for clients and RED66 Marketing
Tools/Applications I Use
A very important tool I use daily is Toggl! It’s a time tracking service that has a plug-in for Google Chrome (my primary browser) so that I can easily track my hours.
The next tool I’m constantly using is Asana. Asana is an application for our team at RED66 that allows for us to organize tasks, assign tasks to one another, receive information on tasks, collaborate and overall work efficiently together. It’s the first application I open in the morning!
Following Asana, Google Hangouts/Gmail is essential for me. I use Google docs, sheets, email and Hangout video for team meetings and to contact my team at any point throughout the day. Although nothing beats face to face interaction, Google allows us to easily communicate when need be!
For social media content, I use Canva and Sendible. Canva allows me to create graphics and edit photos for social platforms and offers great free templates for various different kinds of posts. Sendible is a scheduling service where I often draft social media posts for approval by my team, then schedule to make sure nothing gets missed whether it’s for RED66 or a client.
Wordpress is the primary website application we use for RED66 and clients as well, so I’m constantly logging into the backend of websites to update pages and posts.
Must-Haves
I’ve quickly found out what items I need to make my work day run smoothly at home. Here is a list of what I need daily:
-Wireless mouse
-Blue light glasses
-Seat cushion for desk chair
-A workday Spotify playlist
-COFFEE
What’s my overall experience?
Overall, I would say that working from home most of the week is pretty great! As a student who is doing fully remote learning as well, it’s convenient to be able to attend lectures and switch back to work in just a few moments. The one thing that I’m still learning is how to remain productive at home, but Kady offered some great tips that I’ll be using in a recent blog (check it out)! I’m very thankful to have a flexible internship that allows and trusts me to work remotely, but it’s just as much work as a fully in person internship - so remember that if you go to apply for a remote internship. As intimidating as it may seem, working from home can be a success if you’re set up with the right tools and attitude to excel. So polish up that LinkedIn and start submitting applications, you got this.
About Sam:
Sam is a senior at Grand Valley State University studying Advertising and Public Relations with a minor in Spanish. Sam is currently serving as Social Media Director on the PRSSA Executive Board as well as the Vice President of Public Relations on the Panhellenic Association Executive Board. This is Sam’s first year on the GrandPR staff as an Account Associate. She is also a Digital Marketing Intern at RED66 Marketing in Grand Rapids. Sam’s dream job is to work for a cruelty-free cosmetic or skincare company in their public relations team. Some of the things Sam enjoys in life are her dog Cody, iced coffee and spending time with loved ones
