Getting My Foot in the Door
So, I landed this internship at what they called a ‘haute agency’. Sounds fancy, right? Honestly, getting in wasn’t some magic trick. I spent weeks just sending out applications, tweaking my resume until my eyes blurred. Finally got a call back from this place. The interview was pretty standard, asked about my past projects, what I knew. I just talked straight, told them what I could do, what I was eager to learn. Didn’t try to oversell. Guess that worked, because they offered me the spot a few days later.
First Days: Finding My Way Around
Stepping in felt a bit like walking onto a set. Everything looked very slick, very designed. Lots of minimalist furniture and people dressed sharp. My first task? Setting up my workstation. Classic. Then came the onboarding – mostly reading documents, getting access to systems. It wasn’t glamorous, lots of reading and clicking through things. I spent a good chunk of time just figuring out who did what and where the good coffee machine was. Hint: it wasn’t the fancy one everyone posed next to.
The Actual Work: Less Glitter, More Grind
People probably imagine interns at places like this schmoozing at fancy events or brainstorming groundbreaking campaigns. Well, not really, at least not for me right away. My days mostly involved:
- Research: Lots and lots of digging online. Looking up competitors, market trends, random stats someone senior needed ASAP.
- Spreadsheets: Making lists, organizing data. Inputting information into massive Excel sheets. Fun times.
- Errands: Yeah, sometimes it was literally fetching coffee or prepping meeting rooms. Someone’s gotta do it, right?
- Shadowing: Sitting in on meetings was interesting. You see how things really get decided. Sometimes it’s smart, sometimes it feels like they’re just winging it.
I did get to help out on a couple of smaller client projects eventually. Mostly supporting roles, like pulling together presentation slides or finding images. It felt good to contribute, even in a small way. I learned how to use some of their internal software, which was clunkier than you’d expect for such a ‘haute’ place. Lots of manual workarounds.
Observations from the Inside
The vibe was… interesting. Definitely high pressure at times, especially near deadlines. You could feel the stress humming under the surface. But also quite siloed. The design team didn’t talk much to the strategy team unless they absolutely had to. Felt a bit like different planets orbiting the same sun. I tried to be friendly with everyone, just learned to navigate the different communication styles. Some people were great, really took the time to explain things. Others barely made eye contact. Standard office stuff, I suppose, just with better lighting.
Wrapping It Up
Looking back, the internship was definitely an experience. Did I become a creative genius overnight? Nope. Did I get a realistic look at how an agency actually runs, warts and all? Absolutely. It wasn’t always exciting, and the ‘haute’ part felt more like branding than reality sometimes. But I learned to manage my time, handle different personalities, and do the less-than-glamorous work that needs doing. Got my hands dirty with actual tasks, saw projects go from messy notes to finished products. It wasn’t the dream portrayed in movies, but it was real, and I picked up some practical skills. That’s what counts, I figure.
