To tell you about my internship experience at BlueChip, I'm going to focus on what I did and why I enjoyed it. The former is easy to address, because I achieved a lot during my internship. The latter is trickier to precisely pinpoint.
The BlueChip internship program is very much tailored to the individual. In my case, I was looking for a hands-on opportunity to build my PR skills in a B2B environment. I've been on a career change path, moving gradually from practicing taxation law, to policy advisory and lobbying, to media and PR. Having worked in and around financial services for many years, I knew that a consultancy that exclusively served the industry's PR and communication needs would be a good fit for me.
The whole program has been busy and given me exposure to most facets of BlueChip's services. I have been involved in media strategy development and media relations; content development; media training for executives; and social media strategy, implementation and training. I was able to take my previous experiences in the financial services sector, and apply them to developing my skills as a communication consultant.
What I have enjoyed most has been developing my social media skill set. It's a constantly evolving medium, requiring a different mindset to planning, writing and execution as compared to traditional communication and mainstream media. I have uncovered new ways of integrating social media into existing campaigns, as well as measuring the impact that social media can have on a brand or product. I have also explored the risk management and governance challenges that social media presents. It's a really interesting conundrum, as it balances the fine line between compliance (a concept very familiar to me from my career in taxation) and doing something different and newsworthy (which draws on my developing creative PR mindset).
So, that's what I did and I know I enjoyed it immensely - but precisely what made sitting at my BlueChip desk so fun and rewarding? I could take a shortcut and borrow a phrase joked about in the law - "it's the vibe". If I had to define what sets BlueChip apart from other consultancies and agencies, I would have to say it's the attitude of every BlueChipper. There's a constant theme of "how can we do this better?" which applies to everything we do, from the way we run team meetings to the specifics of our client engagements. Careful planning is always top of mind, but that does not stifle innovation or cramp our style when unexpected things crop up. The constant challenge of the status quo, by every member of the team, is refreshing and exciting. It's reflected in the energy of the team, both internally and with our clients.
On a personal level, I have benefited greatly from being at BlueChip. I have learnt so much about myself - how to take advantage of my strengths, how to deal with my weaknesses, what I need to do to take the next step in my career path. Once again, it's the theme of improvement and innovation, being a better version of yourself every day and not getting stuck in the rut of ordinariness. Making a career change is a bit like going skydiving without knowing whether your parachute is going to work. BlueChip have given me the skills to touch down without crash landing, and to actually enjoy the view along the way.
Tamera Lang undertook the BlueChip intern program during July and August 2012. For more information on this program, contact BlueChip Communication.
