1.Situation

My advertising journey started in January 2000 through an unpaid internship at Graffiti / BBDO, as Junior Account in the Client Service department. So for a period of 2 months, for four days per week, I was on the barricades in the agency, from 9:00 until the evening, sometimes even after 20:00.

2.Task

I started the internship with the objective to receive a job offer from the agency at the end of my two months of activity in Graffiti / BBDO.

3.Action

I took the internship while holding the job I had at that time as an Assistant Manager at Automobil Club Roman. The fact that I was working at ACR in 12/24-hour shifts gave me the advantage of setting up in advance a very clear monthly schedule, which allowed me to go 4 out of 5 working days at Graffiti / BBDO, and during the rest of the time, including weekends, to continue my paid job from ACR.

I allocated two months for the internship because I considered that it was a long enough period to be involved in the agency’s projects, and to be notified and evaluated later based on my achievements.

Armed with a clear program in the agency, I provided my support to the customer service department, being involved in some communication projects developed for the agency’s clients.

I had the chance to be surrounded by colleagues who have “passed” me little tasks like press monitoring, printing and preparing the presentation maps for the clients.

But very soon I realized that in order to be involved in larger projects it is mandatory to manifest initiative and proactivity.

So I noticed the agency was preparing a pitch for Neoset client. In this context, I volunteered to conduct a series of street interviews with potential clients.

For Cosmorom the agency was preparing the launch campaigns, and I noticed that Jennifer Schaffer (the account director on telecom client) had mentioned the need to study the competition’s services and products. So, I immediately went to Connex and Dialog stores, I took all product and service brochures, and during the night I developed a comparative analysis. This analysis was so well executed that it was directly included in the agency’s presentation to Cosmorom.

4.Results

This analysis proved the agency my potential and convinced my future boss Jennifer Schaffer to recommend my employment in Grafitti / BBDO. With Jennifer’s permission, I present below her letter of recommendation.

5.Key Leanings

I have heard many times that if you do not have professional experience it’s hard to be hired. And professional experience cannot be gained unless you are hired.

If you are in the beginning of your professional career, an internship is a way to get out of this vicious circle, to be involved in real projects and to prove your potential and usefulness to employers. When it seems like you’re knocking at closed gates to hire you, you should get involved in a relevant unpaid internship of 1-2 months. At the end, no matter if you are employed or not by the company, your involvement in real projects, in a real company represents a valuable asset that will facilitate your professional trajectory.

Notification: MYPRODUCT reflects my real professional experience and expertise as well as my subjectivity. I do have a profound respect for all the companies I collaborated to and for all the people I worked with. It is not my intention to approach any sensitive, confidential or offending information related to companies, projects or people. If you the reader deduct or recognise companies, projects or people in my examples, I kindly ask you to respect MYPRODUCT and my professional and ethic approach and to not share any detail, information, situation, name, company.