Past Intern Interview: Learning On The Job

Nicole Hemstad

By: Nicole Hemstad, Corporate Communications Intern

Name: Katie Brennan

Current Position: Media Associate – Spark Communications

SMG Internship: Media Planning Intern at Spark Communications (Spring 2010)

Making the seamless transition from intern to media associate, Katie Brennan opens up about her experience and what advice she has for future interns. Starting as media planning intern working on a global client, Katie gained knowledge and used her number skills to interpret important data. At first she was challenged by the all the difficult jargon used at the agency, but quickly learned the lingo and excelled at her internship. 

Now as a media associate Katie works on planning and activation for print, digital, and out of home campaigns for clients Montana Tourism, Pods, and Armour-Eckrich. Though her days are very busy, Katie says the great people she works with make her look forward to coming to work everyday. Katie learned a lot from her internship and encourages all intern and future interns to ask as many questions as they can and suggests spending time learning about different departments to make the most out of the experience.

Katie Brennan

What were some of the projects you got to work on while at your internship and what did you learn from them? 

The things I worked on as an intern were actually very different from what I do now. My main project was working on a big competitive deck (powerpoint.) They were a global client so I got to reach out to offices around the world to get information to help develop the project. I thought it was really cool that I got to contact global offices as an intern, because not many clients are global. I talked to people in Germany and China. 

What was a top experience of your internship and what was a challenge you faced at your internship?

I really like numbers and I enjoyed getting to interpret the data. My supervisor actually wanted my opinion on the data and even let me take a shot at creating portions of the deck before they did it. It really made me feel needed and important. 

A challenge of my internship was that media planning and buying was something very new to me; I had only taken one class in college about it. But when I got here SMG started explaining how everything worked and it was beyond anything I expected. So really one of the challenges I faced at first was learning all the lingo and learning all the processes that go into the campaigns. I laugh now because if I tried to explain to my parents what I do they would be so lost because of all the technical words. 

What made you want to come back and work for Starcom?

It was great because when I finished my internship in the spring of 2010, they offered me a full-time position at Spark. I really liked the atmosphere here at Spark. It’s such a family environment and everyone is so helpful. At Spark you can talk to people on different accounts and get their opinion and perspective on something you are working on. I think that is so great when you are working on something, like media plans, and someone who has done something similar can offer advice. Also, SMG just has such a great training program where you can learn the lingo and learn the math. They don’t expect you to come in knowing everything; they expect to teach you things. 

What advice would you give interns to get the most out of their experience?

Ask lots of questions. Everyone is so nice, they would be happy to help you. And if there is an aspect or position at the company that you are interested in, don’t be afraid to ask about it, even if it isn’t something you are working on. You can sit with someone and learn about it for a day. So if you are interested in print, but you are working in digital, then ask your supervisor and they will make sure you learn about it. Your internship is your time to learn a lot. It is what you make of it, so unless you are proactive about it, you are not going to get out of it what you really want.  Also, keep in contact with the people you work with. You can always follow up with them if you have questions and those connections can be really helpful to you later. There is an expectation with internships that you are exploring and learning, take advantage of that.

What is your favorite thing to do in Chicago? 

My favorite thing is to go running along the lakefront path. I also really like spending the summers hanging out at rooftop spots with my friends. I love Cubs baseball games too!