My Marketing Internship Experience at New Verve

Julita Borowik | Thu, August 10, 2023 | Company Culture | 0 comments

​Each year, our marketing and products departments take on interns from the University of Glasgow Internship Hub. We love this program, as it allows us to connect with the next generation of developers and marketers - taking a mentoring role in their career path.

This blog comes to you from our Marketing Intern, Julita; it details her time with New Verve and the skills she’s learned through the internship.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship while I was approaching my last semester at the University of Glasgow. As a Business Management & Psychology student, I was very interested in the marketing sector. I believe that effective marketing allows businesses to gain a better understanding of consumer behaviour, with many opportunities for creativity also presented when addressing customers.

While I was researching opportunities on the Internship Hub, I knew that I wanted to focus on something marketing specific so that I would gain a better understanding of what a role within this sector entails. Upon seeing New Verve’s job posting, I was intrigued by the B2B nature of the company, which would significantly change the perspective of Marketing that I was accustomed to as a user.

In addition to this, I also had limited experience within the tech sector and the opportunity to gain experience within this was a very exciting prospect. Knowing that this internship would show me a side of marketing that would be entirely new for me, I was very keen to apply and experience new challenges.

What was a typical day like for you at New Verve?

To begin each day, the marketing team would complete a daily stand-up, in which we would run through the tasks on our boards and update the team on our progress. We would also use these meetings as an opportunity to socialise and catch-up with other team members, which made me feel much more connected to my team. I found these stand-ups extremely useful, as they allowed me to talk through my daily tasks, as well as ask any questions and receive answers immediately.

A typical day within New Verve varied as I progressed through the internship. Throughout my first two weeks, many of my daily tasks were centred around learning about the company and ensuring that I feel comfortable with the tools that they use. Throughout this training, those on my team held meetings with me to make sure that I understood the different components of the business, and were always available to answer any questions I had.

In addition to this, the work I completed within New Verve was also quite varied, allowing me to gain experience in tasks such as blog and case study writing, social media posts and reporting analytics. New Verve wanted me to gain experience in many aspects, which I would be able to keep with me for the rest of my career. In addition to this, my team encouraged me to tell them which tasks I find the most interesting, so that they could cater my experience to what would be the most beneficial to me.

Was anything different from what you expected from a marketing role?

As this was my first marketing role, I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect upon starting my internship. Despite having a keen interest in marketing, as well as technical knowledge from my University course, I was unsure about the reality of working on a marketing team. From the outset, I was surprised about the wide variety of tools that are available for Marketing teams to use to assist and monitor their progress with tasks.

As a student, I never had access to such a vast catalogue of apps, such as Trello, that would allow me to complete tasks while still being creative. Furthermore, I was surprised at the amount of information available on analytics and reports. As someone who is interested in consumer behaviour, such a detailed breakdown of consumer patterns was very interesting to me.

After expressing this to my manager, Louise Reilly, she gave me the opportunity to dive deeper into the analytics and explore consumer reports on a wide variety of platforms, including the New Verve website and their social media. Overall, the support that New Verve gave me to explore my topics of interest allowed me to gain a much better understanding of what it means to work in marketing, and made me much more confident that this is something I would like to pursue.

What did you think of remote working and the flexibility at New Verve?

Having completed a year of my University course online following the COVID-19 outbreak, I knew that I enjoyed the flexibility that remote learning allowed. However, I was anxious about how being remote would translate into a professional situation. Needless to say, the entire team at New Verve was extremely welcoming and made an effort to get to know me, easing my concerns about feeling disconnected from my team when working remotely.

In addition to this, the daily stand-ups gave me an opportunity to refocus on what my goals for each day were, allowing me to stay productive and plan my day. Our team also conducted several sprints, in which we would set goals for the upcoming weeks and discuss our marketing strategy.

Overall, I really enjoyed the remote working aspect of the internship and the flexibility that came with it; I felt connected to my team and was able to reach out for help at any time.

How did you find the work culture?

The team at New Verve is extremely friendly and welcoming. During my first week, many people reached out to me over Slack to personally welcome me to the team and I had introductory meetings set up with every department so that I would feel more comfortable within the company. I was also assigned a buddy that could answer any questions I had outwith the marketing team, which showed the effort and consideration that New Verve made to make interns feel part of the team.

The work culture is very supportive and easy-going, with weekly socials allowing people from different departments to socialise and get to know each other. This was also supported by a Slack extension named Donut, which would set up fortnightly meetings between two randomly assigned co-workers, allowing the team to have valuable one-on-one time with those outside of their immediate team.

I felt extremely supported throughout my internship, and felt that I could reach out to anyone on the team if I had a question. In addition, my 1-2-1 meetings with Louise allowed me to reflect on the work I have been doing and allowed us to provide feedback for each other, which was very valuable. There is a sense of equality and comfort in the company which makes it easy to talk to anyone regardless of their position.

Can you tell us some of your highlights from working at New Verve?

One of the main highlights from working at New Verve has definitely been being able to see the content I have made, such as blog posts and case studies on the website. It’s very rewarding to see the end product of the tasks I have completed and has been a huge learning curve for me. I have especially enjoyed completing case studies, as they require a bit more problem solving and allow me to learn about solutions that New Verve has offered in the past. The learning opportunities and support throughout this internship have been immense, and I felt like I was given the independence to pursue what I was interested in.

Another highlight for me has been the socials; it’s clear that New Verve puts a lot of effort into maintaining its work culture, and this is reflected through both the in-person and remote socials. The socials gave everyone an opportunity to wind down and learn more about each other, and were very valuable to me throughout my internship.

How have you made the most of your internship experience?

This internship experience has allowed me to reflect on what I enjoy about marketing, and pursue the aspects of it that I find the most interesting. The marketing team encouraged me and assisted me with any opportunities I wanted to follow, and even recommended Atlassian courses I could undertake as part of my enablement. Throughout the internship, it was clear that New Verve always considered what was in my best interest and gave me the freedom to grow and learn.

I felt that I have truly made the most of my internship by asking questions and finding out more about different areas of marketing. Looking back, I’m proud of the work I’ve completed and I’m so thankful to New Verve for providing me with the tools and support along the way. I was given opportunities to be responsible for certain tasks within the department, and this allowed me to further learn how to prioritise my workload and take responsibility in a real-life professional setting.

How do you feel about your career after this internship experience at New Verve?

After an extremely positive experience at New Verve, I feel even more sure of pursuing a career in marketing. By being able to gain valuable insight into the industry under such a supportive environment I had the best opportunity to learn about what a job in marketing would look like. I was lucky enough to have been offered to stay with New Verve in a permanent position, and I greatly look forward to what the future with the company brings, as well as staying within such a supportive working environment.

If you were to sum up your time at New Verve in a sentence - what would you say?

New Verve has supported me and allowed me to progress in such a valuable way; it’s clear that the company values its workers and aims to grow with them.