One rainy Monday during my internship, I was editing a presentation in the downstairs common area of The Creative Collective. Penny, the company’s accounting and social media whiz, walked downstairs for lunch and we began chatting. As we spoke, she wandered over to the sliding glass doors to take a closer look at the water that had begun to rise in the courtyard. I looked down at my shoes and realised that the soles were wet. The office had begun to flood.
Within minutes, all the staff were downstairs and in action mode. Yvette, ever the fearless leader, dashed through sliding glass doors and into the pouring courtyard in an attempt to unclog the drain outside. I called the SES, then the local council and finally Bunnings to try and get hold of some sandbags to prevent more water from entering the office. We found some rags and all began mopping the quickly spreading water into bins and Tupperware containers from the kitchen. With everyone’s help, a couple of tarps and some homemade sandbags, we managed to save the office. Trust me when I say that every day interning at The Creative Collective is different from the last!
A few months before, I was living in Melbourne and trying to decide what to do with my life. I had decided to move home to Sunshine Coast for a few months to save some money for travelling. I had a vague idea that I might return to study in 2018 but was also considering working overseas for six months. A friend gave me the idea of applying for an internship to get some first-hand experience in digital marketing, something I was interested in but had never pursued. I reached out to The Creative Collective and asked to do some work experience, which turned out to be the best thing I could have done.
In my two months at The Creative Collective, I met many lovely and patient people, learned a lot about the industry and gained a better understanding of my skills and interests. It also helped me decide to go back to university to study a Bachelor of Communications so that I can work in the digital marketing industry.
In my time at the company, I was given the opportunity to work on several projects and many odd jobs. I sat in on client meetings, attended a brand strategy session, helped write copy for a series of business presentations and attended a full-day seminar on Instagram for Business. Not a lot of people get the opportunity to ask questions and learn one-on-one from the company’s founder, but it was exactly the kind of support I came to expect. At times it was difficult to balance my full-time work with my internship, but the team was extremely accommodating and I was able to exceed the 100 hours I had set as my goal.
My major project at The Creative Collective was to plan and write a competitor analysis, which I presented at the company’s annual strategic planning meeting. I spent many hours working on this presentation and felt overwhelming satisfaction when I received positive feedback afterwards.
The thing I most gained from my internship was confidence in myself and my skills, something that can’t be taught and must be learned through doing. I would encourage anyone interested in working in the digital marketing industry to apply for an internship with The Creative Collective.