No more studying but finally some hands-on experience! With this thought in mind, I started my internship in July 2021 at Life Science Communication in Zurich. What I didn’t know yet, however, was that this internship would be the most intensive, exciting and one of the most instructive periods of my life.
On the very first day, I was invited to take part in a brainstorm meeting. And that’s exactly how it continued. I was immediately absorbed by the work at the agency. The client has top priority there. There is a high probability to start the day with one project in the morning and by the evening you have worked on five more projects. This lightning-fast switching between different tasks requires enormous mental flexibility, but at the same time this makes the job incredibly exciting.
Let’s get down to business
Over the entire internship, I was allowed to supervise two exhibitions and their realisation. During this work I learned a lot, on the one hand about their contents themselves and on the other hand supervision of mobile exhibitions and their contents, and therefore about the challenges of event management. Taking care of the exhibitions on site was also always enormously challenging. At one location, I had the possibility to guide more than 200 students of different age groups through the Humboldt exhibition within three days.
However, the highlight of my internship was a large-scale project that we were chosen to manage for a client. The project was complex and required a lot of (wo)manpower. With a lot of energy and great teamwork, we managed to organise twelve events in less than three months. The client was extremely satisfied, we were proud but also exhausted and I was grateful for everything I could learn during this project. All in all : a great experience.
Beginner meets master
Throughout the internship, I was able to learn a lot from the agency owner’s years of experience. The ease with which he answered my questions was remarkable. I was also able to learn a lot from my colleagues. They all come from different backgrounds and have different strengths, which they were able to apply to their mandate.
Conclusion
During these six months, I was able to make huge steps forward. I was able to gain a deep insight into the processes of a communications agency. Even though I didn’t work on all the projects, I was able to be close by as an observer. I also appreciated the fact that I was part of the team from the very beginning and that I was also asked for my opinion and ideas. All these experiences definitely are great for me and my professional future.
Yvonne Zeller
