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Respect the organisation and its staff
It's important to follow the chain of command in your host organisation and recognise the formal and informal reporting structures within. The golden rule? Never go around, behind or over anyone. If you have a question, go to your direct supervisor first. Each staff member has been at the organisation for longer than you have, and has a greater understanding of their role and the company than you do. By respecting them and maintaining a pleasant demeanour, your colleagues can help you accomplish your goals if you make a good first impression. Don't be surprised if you don't get along with everyone in the office - remember that you and your fellow interns/co-workers don't have to be friends, just focus on building a strong working relationship.
Part of this respect also includes dressing the part. Marketing is such an electic industry; nailing the perfect outfit can often be tricky. Our tip: Dress professionally on your first day and check out what everyone else is wearing. If jeans seem to be kosher, then follow suit. But remember - no rips or tears, please!
Have realistic expectations
Some interns come in and are disappointed in the occasional amount of down time, thinking they would be meeting with clients or dealing directly with the media. As valuable as interns may be to a company, paid staff members are often busy and find it a challenge to delegate or train interns in their tasks - sometimes, it's just easier for us to do it ourselves. Be a self-starter and find something productive to do. If you've completed a task on time, create your own work and research the company, staff and its goals. Constantly asking your supervisor for things to do may show how keen you are, but could be disruptive if they have to stop their work to deal with you - why not look on industry-related publications/websites/blogs and surprise them with an informative article that they've never seen?
Set goals
Estabish a list of goals you want to achieve through your internship. This could be anything from writing a press release or helping set up/manage social media accounts for clients. In order make sure you work to your strengths, communicate with your supervisor and tell them what you want to get out of your internship. Work to your strengths or improve an area of weakness
Communicate with your supervisors
This goes both ways - if your supervisor gives you a task that you don't understand, just ask them to clarify. We've all been there and understand it may be scary or intimidating to ask what may seem like a silly question, but's it's always better to get the job done right the first time, instead of doing it wrong and having to redo it again.
Build a portfolio as you go
One of the biggest advantages of a marketing internship is that you can leave with evidence of capability, not just a line on your resume. Too many interns do good work but fail to collect proof of impact, so their internship experience becomes hard to communicate in job interviews.
Start building a simple portfolio folder from day one. Ask your supervisor what you can save and what is confidential. Where you cannot share client work publicly, keep de-identified versions or screenshots for internal viewing in interviews.
Ideas for portfolio pieces during a marketing agency internship:
A social media content plan with themes, post examples and rationale
A short competitor review with key insights and implications
A blog draft or website copy sample edited with feedback incorporated
A media list, pitch angle sheet or a press release draft for a PR internship task
A set of design concepts, ad variations or a mini brand pack for a graphic design internship
A simple campaign report showing results, learnings and next steps
Hiring managers care about how you think. Show your process. If you can describe the objective, audience, message and outcome, you already stand out.
Learn the tools that agencies use every day
A common reason interns struggle is not because they are incapable, but because they have never been exposed to the tools that agencies rely on. The fastest way to become valuable is to become tool confident.
You do not need to master everything, but you should become comfortable with the basics across key categories.
For a digital marketing internship, focus on:
Google Workspace and Microsoft Office basics including templates and formatting
Canva or Adobe Express for quick assets, plus Adobe Creative Cloud if you are design oriented
Social scheduling tools such as Buffer, Hootsuite or Meta Business Suite
Google Analytics and Google Search Console basics
Keyword research tools and the logic behind SEO content planning
Project management systems such as Asana, Trello or Monday
If you do not have access to these tools immediately, learn through tutorials. Show initiative and bring that knowledge back into your internship.
Develop “agency grade” communication
Marketing agencies move fast. Great communication becomes a competitive advantage, particularly for interns. The aim is to be clear, accountable and easy to work with.
A practical approach:
Confirm the objective of every task before you start
Clarify deadlines and what “done” looks like
Send brief updates without being asked
If you are stuck, explain what you have tried before asking for help
When you submit work, include context, assumptions and your recommendation
Here is a simple format you can use when sending work to a supervisor:
Task: What you completed
Objective: What the work is designed to achieve
Notes: Any assumptions or considerations
Options: If relevant, show two approaches
Recommendation: What you believe is best and why
Next step: What you need from your supervisor
This style of communication signals maturity, which matters in a marketing internship environment.
Treat feedback like training, not criticism
Feedback is part of agency life. The interns who grow fastest learn how to absorb it without defensiveness. You are not expected to know everything. You are expected to learn quickly.
When you receive feedback:
Write it down
Ask one clarifying question if needed
Make the edits and resubmit promptly
Keep a personal “feedback log” so you do not repeat the same mistakes
If you get the same feedback twice, build a checklist. For example, if you are writing, your checklist might include grammar, structure, readability, brand voice and proof points. If you are designing, it might include spacing, hierarchy, alignment, file naming and export formats.
This is how you turn a short internship experience into a skill jump.
Understand what agencies value most from interns
At Marketing Eye and in most agencies, interns are valued when they reduce friction for the team. That means being reliable, organised and proactive.
High-value intern behaviours include:
Delivering work on time, even if it is imperfect, so it can be refined
Being responsive and available during working hours
Following naming conventions and file management protocols
Taking notes in meetings and confirming actions afterward
Spotting small errors before they become big issues
Protecting confidentiality and acting professionally at all times
Interns who do these things build trust quickly. Trust leads to better tasks, more exposure and, in many cases, paid work.
Become a student of the client’s market
If you want to excel in a marketing agency internship, go beyond the task list. Learn the industries your agency serves. Read the client’s website, recent news and competitor messaging. Understand their customer and what drives purchase decisions.
A simple way to contribute is to bring one useful insight to your supervisor each week. It could be:
A competitor campaign you noticed and what it means
A trend affecting the client’s industry
A question customers keep asking online
A content gap on the client’s website
A new partnership or event relevant to the client
This habit develops commercial thinking, which is the real differentiator in marketing careers.
Practice the skill that separates good interns from great ones
The skill is prioritisation.
Marketing teams have more ideas than time. If you can learn how to prioritise, you become valuable far beyond your intern title. When you are given multiple tasks, ask:
Which task has the tightest deadline
Which task has the highest impact
Which task blocks someone else’s work
Which task is most visible to the client
Then confirm your order of operations. This shows maturity and reduces confusion.
How to turn your internship into a paid role
Many interns want to know the real answer: what increases the chances of being offered paid work?
Here is what consistently works:
Treat every task like it will be shown to a client
Track your output and wins so you can communicate your contribution
Ask for more responsibility after you have proven reliability
Offer to document processes or create templates the team can reuse
Be someone the team enjoys working with, not because you are entertaining, but because you are respectful, calm and consistent
At the end of your internship, request a short review meeting. Bring:
Your goals and what you achieved
Your portfolio items
What you learned
Where you believe you can add value next
This is a professional close, and it positions you as hireable.
─ Eliza Sum and Marketing Eye US staff writer
