The idea of being an intern was kinda scary, like will I just be doing coffee runs like in the movies? Will my boss expect me to already be an expert and know exactly how to do everything? Haha well no, none of that happened. This past winter break while I was back home in Charlotte I worked at a German-based toy company called Schleich. I was so so nervous to have my first day. I had ZERO clue as to what I was gonna have to do and what they expected of me. When I first got there though I was welcomed in and met my boss Lana. She gave me the tour and then told me about some of the projects I was going to be working on. Being a marketing major with an art and design minor I was hoping I would be doing something with graphics or social media… and I did exactly that. She gave me all the info for our social media accounts and told me to start working on some TikTok ideas for the company. This was right up my alley, I love coming up with creative ideas so this was SO much fun. I mean come on it’s a toy company so like who wouldn’t want to play with toys at work all day? The strangest thing that happened was I was excited to wake up at 6:30 to get ready for work because I actually enjoyed what I was doing. It became my routine. Every Tuesday and Thursday I would go into the office and sit at my desk with a T-rex watching over me (see picture below) working on projects for a while, then I would get up and look at all the toys to get some inspo and get the creative juices flowing. And this is one experience I would never give up. I loved every second of it and I will forever be grateful for the few weeks I spent there.
Now you’re probably like okay how do I get an internship like this… for me it was all about connections. And I know I barely have ANY experience but from what I got out of talking to others was connecting can bring in so many opportunities you never even knew about! I know it’s super cliche but it is so important to know people who know people that can possibly get you a job. So go fix up your Linkedin and start connecting with others at your college and even professionals in the field of work you want to do. And you never know what might happen if you just apply and GO FOR IT.
