This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Casper Libero chapter.
Name: Sara Ferrari
Year and Major: Journalism 3rd year
Age: 22
What lead you to intern at Airbnb? Was it your first internship?
Yes and no. Airbnb was my first internship, but not my first experience in Communication, which happened in 2011, back when I was only 16 years old. With a lot of nerve and a high heel to pretend being older, I started delivering my résume all around publishing houses and newspapers. I grew up wanting to be a writer so I was conivenced that I should already get a job in the “area”. I don’t where my courage came from, but it worked. One day I met a guy and he said there was a job position in the company he worked at, he asked if I was a journalist and wanted to “work a lot, but get a very small salary” and I said yes.
After a few days, I started working at recently created company of digital content, Digisa, with journalist Henrique Ulbrich (who got his boss to hire a teenager to write stuff). There, I learned what was a lead, an SEO and I was learned about Cásper, which was the college my boss went to. I spent a year with more operational activities and then I started really writing. From there, I went to a publicity agency to work on their Social Media team and from there I went to Airbnb.
It was an internship in Communication?
I worked mostly in the marketing area. My day involed creating content for social media, locating global campaigns, translating materials to adapt to the Brazilian market, besides being the first contact for local partnerships. I also did a bit of producing events for the host community during the RIo de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016. I even got to trabel 5 times to Rio at that time and one time to Miami for the Global Communications team meeting (it was very exciting, because it was my first international trip).
How it is to work for a startup expanding its operations in a country like Brazil?
It was a great experience and it got me to a different professional level. I needed a lot of discipline, focus and manage multitasking to get the message right. It was a small team and being the only intern, I got to work in so many different areas with people from all levels and nationalities. A lot of things were new to me. It was great to practice my English.
What did you learn while there?
One time the Latin America Operations director said “work with what you love or learn to love what you do”. At Airbnb, I met truly inspiring professional who loved what they did and amazing people I will take as role models for life. On a daily basis, it is not always easy to manage so many taks on your own. That is something that can be very owverwhelming, but the advantage is that there is a great opportunity to try to innovate better and bigger. I was not working with Journalism and I kept asking mysefl, what I was doing there, but today I understand that it really does not matter where you are or if you want to do that for your entire life. What matter is that this particular experience can expand your knowledge of your own self nad move you to amazing things. The intensity and rhythm of a startup led me to a more focused person, less shy, more attentive and in love with opportunities and the people we met along the way.
Was there something you took from Cásper’s classes to Airbnb and vice-versa?
Studying journalism can be really tough, because you often listen that there is no future career, there is no money for newsrooms and that it is going to be a complicated path. You listen to this at classes and events. Airbnb was an open door to me in understanding more about collaborative economy and how great ideas can change the world. Journalism lives a business model criss, and this experience made me more optismistic and sensitive to the possibilities we can apply in our lives.
Do you have any tips for working in a startup?
My background in Communications was something that stood out. But at the same time, I know there were people applying for the position who had no job experience. There were more than 600 candidates. I think my sharp English was a great factor, but my tip is also have grit, enthusiasm and discipline. A Startup can be tough and a marathon, so having authomony is an asset.
What now?
After a year and two months I left Airbnb and I am interning at Veja São Paulo magazine, at Editora Abril. I am very excited to finally be writing and praticing journalism <3
Curiosities about Airbnb according to Sara:
– Yoga classes every Tuesday
– Massages every 15 days
– Fully equipped kitchen with several snacks.
– Employees can take their pets to the office
– All meeting rooms were adapted based on the houses of Airbnb hosts, which is something that only presents how the company has a strong company.
