For the last six weeks, Zoë Waite, a recent graduate from the University of Nottingham, has been working at Hallam as part of our internship scheme. Here, she details what she has learnt in that time. 

As July draws to an end, so does my digital marketing internship with Hallam. My role was based within the Paid Media team but I was supported and encouraged by those at Hallam to get involved in client projects across multiple departments.  

Hallam has provided me a wealth of experience and understanding during my six weeks at the agency. I’ve seen first hand how a full service agency functions interdependently through working across teams including Paid Media, People & Culture, Marketing and PR. 

Now, I want to take the time to reflect on all I have learnt and gained from my internship experience this summer and share for those looking to enter the world of digital marketing. 

My internship experience

I applied to Hallam’s Paid Media internship with the intent to explore a role in paid advertising – something I hadn’t had the opportunity to gain experience in previously. Paid adverts are such an integral aspect of digital marketing, so by becoming familiar with the processes and responsibilities would help me in any digital marketing career. 

I came into the role with foundational experience in social media and communications from previous job roles and initially found the various ad platform interfaces and numerical data intimidating, as this was not an area I had a lot of confidence in. However, after working on various account optimisation tasks in Microsoft, Meta and Google,as well as shadowing campaigns and building ads for the Nottingham Digital Summit on LinkedIn, I leave feeling more confident navigating platforms, analysing findings and working within these interfaces. 

I’ve also had the opportunity to expand on my experience working with WordPress. Having written blogs as part of a previous role with the University of Nottingham’s Careers Service, I had a basic understanding of the functions and navigations. As part of my responsibilities at Hallam, I took on content mastering tasks with the Development team for a client’s website pre-launch, inputting new image links into pages and providing alt texts.

A substantial part of my internship tasks were research-based and required me to compile findings and suggestions for Hallam and its clients. I worked directly with the People & Culture team to suggest developments in employee perks inline with industry trends, creating a formal audit document followed by a presentation to showcase my findings. 

I also worked on several tasks for a specific client, conducting a competitor analysis to present back to them and compiling ad performance analysis. Completing the research tasks for this client refined my understanding of marketing strategy, improved my ability to identify key themes and data points, and using this all to suggest actionable improvements. This also gave me the opportunity to work on my presentation skills – an important part for any role in a client-facing environment. 

In addition to these tasks, I’ve also had time to work on my own learning and development. I’ve joined training sessions on Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Hagakure search for marketing professionals and even attending a series of talks from across the agency’s departments for the University of Nottingham Business School Masters students. Joining in with sessions alongside established professionals was a real ‘pinch me’ moment, helping me grasp the content and improve my understanding of the vast breadth of digital marketing. These sessions did not just develop my understanding of key marketing concepts but reinforced an enjoyment, enthusiasm and comprehension for the areas in which I have been involved.

My key learnings 

I leave Hallam having developed my knowledge of digital marketing and having gained experience across the agency, meeting so many amazing people who were willing to support and involve me as much as possible. 

My internship has developed my professional soft skills, notably the ability to balance multiple projects, clients and departments efficiently and managing my time to ensure all tasks are completed to standard. I have also learnt the important skill of making an ace iced caramel latte on the coffee machine, which I would argue is also essential for office-based work. 

From my time with Hallam, I have two key takeaways to share with anyone considering entering the industry:

Breadth > depth 

When entering a new role, it can be tempting to stick to what you know or are interested in; it makes us feel comfortable and safe. However, to set yourself up for the best chance of success, it is beneficial to gain a holistic understanding of digital marketing through working and putting time in with people from across the company. 

This can start with establishing a marketing strategy which informs the creative assets which are then used in paid ads, or developing client websites based on the psychology of user experience (UX) and findings from tree testing data. Working across departments at a junior level also allows you to explore areas of marketing you may wish to pursue further in your career, which you may not have explored otherwise. 

Don’t be afraid to ask

Initially, reaching out to people for help felt intimidating. I struggled to shake the feeling of imposter syndrome and that I was ‘bothering people’. But I quickly realised that if someone doesn’t have capacity to arrange a time to talk, they’ll just tell you – but even when capacity was limited, everyone was so willing to help and also to get me involved in various projects.

Don’t let embarrassment hold you back: it’s alway worth reaching out just in case there is an opportunity there.

The importance of proactivity

I was lucky that Hallam had planned tasks for me outside of just paid media, but by taking a proactive approach and asking to get involved I was able to explore these areas even further. This included sitting in on client calls, watching members of the team present their ideas and get asked questions by clients and getting to speak with Hallam staff about their own areas of expertise. 

Proactivity proved an important skill when working on projects. Coming into a new role after my degree, I knew how to write academically and how to present findings in a university setting, but having limited experience in the work environment. Using new software, I felt I needed to ask people why a link wasn’t working, or to remind me where I could find the search terms in Google Ads or ask if I should include a whole list of things in the blogs I wrote. When tackling these issues independently, I was cementing my own comprehension of the tasks; asking for guidance when you need it is great practice, but taking some time and a bit longer to figure something out for yourself helps to consolidate your own knowledge and often isn’t as difficult as it first seems. 

Thank you

I’ve enjoyed my time at Hallam greatly, feeling wholeheartedly supported, encouraged and integrated into the team. The experience has been so beneficial in my understanding of digital marketing, agency roles and what roles or areas fit my personality and skill set best.

During these six short weeks, I have been able to get involved and complete more tasks than I ever thought possible and the time has flown by. The biggest thank you to the whole Hallam team and my line manager, Molly Watters, for making my time with Hallam as productive as it was!

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