Marketing intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed working for the global marketing team at Travelport as I had the chance to be involved in a variety of fun yet challenging projects. The company itself is very interesting to work for as it operates in the traveltech industry which is a very complex business to understand however, extremely valuable to have the knowledge of. The company is innovative on the business side and collaborative and friendly on the employee side, which made my placement year very enjoyable.

I felt 100% valued and integrated in my team as I received just as much responsibility as everyone else and was included in all projects relevant to me. I always received verbal or written feedback on my work and was even given two awards for my contributions. Team members have asked for my opinions and insights on projects/tasks throughout the entire year, which shows that they cared about my views on projects they/we worked on. Colleagues have also often turned to me for help, which made me feel appreciated since I could support them with certain things that they otherwise might have struggled with.

My team and manager has played a huge role in giving me the opportunities for growth and were fully supportive since the very beginning. The guidance and help I received from them has been tremendous, they were always there to help answer any questions and have always created a fun atmosphere in the office. I received both professional and personal guidance about my future career/life on a wide range starting from specific marketing tools, strategies, industries, different areas/aspects of marketing, various business units, other companies to even various geographical locations for my future career.

I always had sufficient amount of work on a daily basis however, of course the amount could change depending on how busy the eniter department was and the time of year we were in. I had weeks where I was fully booked into meetings and had to manage my work load at the same time, which was quite challenging however, it massively improved my time-management skills. The amount and scope of tasks and deadlines that I was given was always manageable. On the other hand I also had days/weeks when I was quite free however, during that time I could complete my university work or focus on building my CV and LinkedIn profile.

I was given solid amounts of responsibilities during the year and I felt that my team and manager trusted me to carry these out. I had a wide range of responsibilities: some of which included supporting the executtion of various marketing campaigns, creating different marketing collateral such as case studies, customer testimonials and videos, managing internal and external marketing communications in the form of e-newsletters, articles and socail media on various platforms, working with our marketing automation tool to execute multi-step communication campaigns for our customers as well as to pull reports on previous campaigns, managing translations, working with our CRM system to leverage customer data and to pull ROI reports for various campaigns and events, supporting the coordination and organization of internal as well as external events, being heavily involved in the hiring process of new intern, working with external marketing agencies to create various marketing material and sourcing suppliers for the company’s marketing merchandise, handling budget when purchasing merchandise.

My skills have developed to a great extent, much more than they did at university due to the fact that I applied them in practice and did not only learn the theory. All the marketing tools I used, the campaigns I assisted with, the programs and softwares we used as well as all the processes I worked with, not to mention the insight I gained into how a global company operates, have proved to be extremely invaluable for my future career as well as my final year at university. Thanks to the experiences that Travelport and the Customer Segment marketing team has given me, I feel that I am much more prepared to take on my final year of University in October and any future career.

The atmosphere in the office at the marketing section was always fun, chatty and collaborative with lots of team-work happening across the floor. Everyone was very friendly, my colleagues were happy to answer any questions or talk about projects/tasks openly. There was rarely a day when it was silent around marketing, people were usually easy-going and a pleasure to talk to and work with.

My internship was very well organised from the beginning to the end starting with an excellent 3 week handover/induction period with my previous intern. Throughout the year, I continuously received guidance from my manager, we had one-to-one meetings weekly to discuss whether I was on track with my projects, if I had any issues and/or personal development goals. As an intern group we also had various intern workshops focusing on different parts of the business or general skills such as recruitment, which gave us insight into how other departments work and the company operates with its various departments. We were tasked to present about our progress as interns on various occasions, which gave the internship program a framework as our supervisors received feedback from us.

There was an internal company website that offered training on various topics that each employee could use in their own time to their own advantage however, specific investment in personal development was not mentioned. We had various subscriptions to different industry and marketing journals/newsletters such as the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and I believe the experience I gained overall during my placement and the amount I learnt about the industry and marketing was sufficient for this one year. Had I been with Travelport for longer, I would have asked about paid-for personal development courses.

Future employment prospects would be appealing with Travelport however, only in the distant future as I'd like to discover and explore the B2C side of marketing rather than only work with B2B, which was the case at Travelport. In terms of the industry, the company and the team, I believe it's a good organisation to work for with its innovative and ever-evolving nature, there is room for personal and career growth and with the colleagues being so collaborative and friendly, it's easy to settle into.

The social scene was extremely good with other interns as our group was pretty large (22 interns) and everyone got on pretty well with each other. We tried to make the most of our year together, we often went for meals, drinks or on nights out and genuinely made very good friendships. There was a Social Club in the office that we could join that provided various benefits and organised various events for a discounted price e.g.: theatre trips, boat party, quiz night etc... that many interns and colleagues took part in. We also often went for meals and drinks or even team building days with our teams, which gave us the opportunity to bond outside of work and get to know each other better. The charity project that all of the interns had to do during this year also gave us the chance to really bond over various fundraising activities and just generally have fun for a worthy cause.

Since Travelport is very close to London and the location many interns lived in was also around this area, the cost of living is socialising was generally quite high. I lived in a house of 6 with other interns and found the rent price to be very expensive compared to other places. Generally going out in the London area is quite expensive (meals, transport, drinks, entertainment) however, it's an experience that I'll never forger and even though it's pricey, this has to be done if anyone gets the chance to live around London.

Since I lived quite close to London, there was always the opportunity to go on a night-out in central London or in Windsor, where nightlife was excellent. London of course has infinite amounts of restaurants, bars, cubs and entertainment venues across the entire city therefore the choice is unlimited and the quality of the nightlife is amazing as well. Personally I lived in Uxbridge, which didn't exactly have the best venues however, when we were altogether with other interns, it was still fun. The only issue about the London nightlife was that the tube journey was quite long from Uxbridge however, once we were in London it was worth it.

The Social Club and the activities we organised with my team and other interns were the activities that I took part in mostly outside of work, which happened quite often. There was also a football club for male employees however, what stood out for me personally was that I had the chance to attend some industry events such as the World Travel Market and Business Travel Show where I could help at the Travelport stand to meet customers and listen in to some customer meetings, I had the chance to explore other companies’ stands as well as to attend sessions and presentation about travel, technology and/or marketing.