The Lowdown on the Most Awesome Internship at SpotDev

by Ellie Dalton
on 4 November 2016
Internships

The Lowdown on the Most Awesome Internship at SpotDev

by Ellie Dalton
on 4 November 2016
Reading time: 4 mins

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At the end of October I began an internship at SpotDev. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I’m an International Business & Marketing graduate and, although I have a YouTube channel where I post twice weekly, I’ve never actually had any type of work experience or internship in the digital marketing field.

Firstly, everyone was so welcoming, whatever questions I had and no matter how small or silly they seemed they were answered without hesitation and with enthusiasm. Instantly I felt at home within the SpotDev family. To me this is really important, as I have never wanted to wake up dreading going to work and, at SpotDev, I don’t think I ever would.

The fact that I have no technical experience in digital marketing didn’t hold me back at all. Speaking to many members of the different teams within the company I was able to learn about the specific areas SpotDev operate in. They taught me so many different things, but there’s still a lot I know I need to learn.

The blogs on SpotDevs site are very helpful, especially the beginner’s guide series.

A typical day at SpotDev…

I started at 9am each morning. First things first coffee - always!

When you arrive in the office you can get yourself settled and grab a coffee (or whatever drink you fancy) for the desk.

Ciara, who’s in charge of internships and who was my first port-of-call during my time, created a spreadsheet which mapped everything out for me to do each day. Whether that was an hour with the SEO team or working on this blog, it was all in the schedule! This worked well for me because I like routine and organisation so having a focus was really good.

Lunch was around 12:30 - 1:30, or a little earlier or later, depending on where you’re at with work. You have free reign at lunch time, so if you want to go into Milton Keynes central and get lunch, or if you brought your own food in, that's fine!

There’s also a group conversation on Slack for everyone in the office and often people will order from the same place. We had a cool burrito lunch from a place called Wrapchic. I realise now that I frequented this place a fair amount.

Back to work, I’d normally clarify with Ciara that I was on the right track with what I was doing, and usually I was. It was great to be allowed to get on with the work I was set and have the responsibility to do so. It was great that I was trusted enough to create content. It was definitely a sense of accomplishment seeing my work being used by SpotDev!

I’d normal speak to two or three people from different teams throughout the afternoon to do a little more active learning. They would also set me tasks to do which I’d send over to them. Again, it was great to create real content.

Around 5 o’clock (ish) I’d have a catch up with Ciara where we talked about my day and how it had been. We’d also discuss which areas of work I’d enjoyed that day, as well as the areas I hadn’t understood or enjoyed quite as much. We’d then work out a plan of action for the next day, as well as any longer running tasks I needed to keep on top of.

I have already been given great opportunities in SpotDev, even though I’ve only been here for two weeks. I’ve learnt so much already about digital marketing and social media, including how much work goes into it.

The SpotDev Academy

SpotDev have built their very own auditorium where they hold the SpotDev Academy, offering courses on a variety of digital marketing disciplines, including:

  • Introduction to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO);
  • Introduction to Social Media;
  • Social Media Advertising; and
  • Introduction to Inbound Marketing.

Attendees spend a full day learning all about their chosen course. I was lucky enough to be able to get involved in the Social Media Advertising course.

This took up a full day at SpotDev and went a little bit like this…

9:30am

Starting in the auditorium, fully stocked with coffee to fuel the day, we started with a little introduction, mainly names, so we didn’t feel quite so new.

Tristan, a senior account manager at SpotDev, was running the course and he was great at making us feel comfortable, as well as reassuring us that no question or comment was silly - after all, if you never ask you never know, right?

After getting settled we moved on to topics such as why advertising on social media is so crucial and which platforms are most effective, as well as covering terminology so that throughout the day we weren’t so confused by abbreviations.

11:00am

Coffee stop! We had a quick break to refuel and let all that information sink in. Especially as someone who had a minimal understanding of a lot of digital marketing, these breaks really helped me stop and think about all the information we’d just received from Tristan.

Side note - there were several basic questions asked throughout the first quarter and Tristan answered them very professionally, so thank you for not patronising us!

11:15am

Back to learning. After processing and refuelling, I was eager to learn more. Now we were getting into some more indepth information, moving more specifically onto Facebook and its advertising. This was really useful, as later on in the day we were going to create our on Facebook adverts within Power Editor.

12:45pm

Lunch break! SpotDev stocked us all up on a great lunch selection, so after the blood sugar boost everyone was keen to learn more! This was also a great chance to talk to the other people on the course. We were all discussing our work, or in my case lack thereof, in the digital marketing field.

1:30pm

Now it was time to look at Twitter and LinkedIn adverts, and create our own after we’d created the Facebook one, which seemed to be the most complicated so these ones seemed a little easier to understand.

3:00pm

The final refuel - a quick break before the last push of the day. Lastly, we looked at efficient ways to implement advertising and when best to use it. During this time we also created our own graphs, aiming to work out what the best lookalike audiences for our business would be. This was very interesting and something I had no idea existed before the course.

4:30

After finishing the course we were allowed to ask questions and go over any area’s we were unsure of or needed clarification with. This was a great opportunity to really cement the information we’d taken in throughout the day. 

I’m so glad I was able to be part of this course as I learnt so much about digital marketing and social media advertising.

This isn’t the only opportunity my internship has given me. I have been able to create content for clients that SpotDev is currently working with, and I feel really proud that the content I’m creating is deemed good enough to be sent out on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and more.

All in all, I have enjoyed every minute of my time at SpotDev! This internship has cemented to me that digital marketing is the career I want to have, and I’m so thankful that I have been given this opportunity to become part of the SpotDev family for a short time. I hope that I have also been a helpful and useful part of the team whilst I have been here, and I truly hope that this is not the last time I’m sat at one of the SpotDev desks.
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