Being an intern is risky business. Will you be going on coffee runs or producing valuable work? Luckily for me, Matter provides the latter of the two experiences.
I spent my summer as a Public Relations Intern at Matter and have loved every moment of it. Whether you are part of the public relations, digital marketing or creative team, Matter is sure to provide you with a supportive learning environment, opportunities to participate in meaningful work and, as you may have heard, some fun!
Here is a taste of what my day-to-day as a Matter intern looks like:
Matter interns work 9:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. From there I settle in, crack open my laptop, read all my unread emails and catch up on any client news that may have broken while I was gone. Being on one of Matter’s largest accounts means I often have a lot to catch up on.
By 9:15 a.m. I’m ready to jump into my daily tasks and, most days, for a caffeine pick-me-up too. My daily tasks range from media list building and editorial calendar curating to social media content creation and article writing. As much as I’d love to share a typical day of task, no two days are the same here at Matter or in public relations. When you work so closely to the media things are always changing, and they change fast.
It’s now 11:00 a.m. and I’m either on my way to a meeting and gearing up for one. On any given day there are typically a handful of both client-facing and internal meetings on my calendar – and if I’m lucky there will be donuts waiting for me in one of them. While in meetings, I always make it a point to jot down any notes or questions that may be helpful for me later.
12:30 p.m. comes around and it’s time for lunch! Though most of my day is sedentary, working on a computer all day can still take a lot out of you. I love using my lunch time to get up and moving. Sometimes that’s a quick walk after eating my lunch in the kitchen and sometimes that’s treating myself to lunch out.
I’m back at my desk and ready to get into the groove by 1:00 p.m. With only an hour and a half left in my day it’s time to tie up any loose ends and deliver any work that is needed by the end of the day. I may not have deadlines to meet at the end of every day, but certainly have personal goals I aim to reach every day. I often break up my bigger taskers into smaller more manageable tasks in order to stay organized and on top of my deadlines.
2:15 p.m. arrives, often faster than I’d like it to, and it is time to wrap up any projects I’m working on and update the project owner.
And just like that it’s 2:30 p.m. and I’m headed home for the day.
As my internship winds down, I’ve begun to reflect on the experience I’ve had. Which has led me to four key takeaways to share with future Matter interns:
- Ask a lot of questions
- Actively work to sharpen your skills
- Stay curious and open minded to new experiences
- Have some fun!