This experience was truly incredible. I learned so many valuable lessons that I will carry with me forever. I also found a sense of independence working in a new country, far away from my friends and family. As a social media intern for Evocreative, I worked directly with their client ‘The Jam Letna’. Initially my expectations were to create posts and promote their upcoming concerts and events. However I feel I exceeded those expectations, by creating innovative content, starting a tiktok account, and pitching new ideas. This internship helped me grow personally, academically, and professionally. It has also given me a glimpse into what my career path might look like. Overall I am so grateful I got to venture out of my comfort zone and gain cross-cultural work experience.
I initially chose the International Internship abroad program because I realized how valuable it could be to learn to work in another country. After traveling abroad to Germany last summer, I realized how much you can learn from another culture and how those perspectives can broaden your thinking. I thought it would be amazing to learn the marketing techniques and strategies that they use in Prague in order to utilize them in the United States. While also offering them new ideas and perspectives towards their business. I knew this experience would force me out of my comfort zone and help me work more independently. Prague appealed to me most because of their beautiful architecture and affordable prices. Going into the program my main goals were to learn the necessary skills to adapt to cultural differences in communication, gain a personal sense of independence, and improve my marketing and branding skills. I definitely feel as though I met all of these goals and made the most out of my experience.
During my internship I would consistently create and design posts to promote their upcoming events. I practiced time management by prioritizing posts based on their date, and promptly completing assignments. I did a lot of marketing for their weekly music events, by taking pictures of the atmosphere and coming up with creative captions. I was constantly interacting with coworkers and customers in order to capture fun pictures that would engage different audiences. I would also regularly pick out photos that could be used for posts, and plan what order they would go in to look best with their feed. Tiktok was one of the first ideas I had suggested, and they ended up loving my pitch! Therefore, I created an account for them and consistently posted videos that followed recent trends. In order to bring in more viewers and customers. I even generated a significant amount of likes on my videos, especially for a new account. Just by posting videos and using hashtags, it brought their business a lot of new attention. One thing I gained extra experience on was editing videos. I made an advertisement video, so my client could rent out the space when it wasn’t in use. This allowed me to become familiar with video editing software, and new applications. I began to love constructive criticism because it allowed me to learn a lot more about their brand. While also learning new strategies towards enhancing the quality of my designs. When I would create weekly schedule posts, it allowed me to get more experience with using Canva. I changed a lot of their old templates and also created new ones. It was definitely interesting to learn how Prague’s music and hospitality scene operates, by watching events at the Jam. I had to quickly adjust to their customs and ways of doing things. Especially through communicating, being that they usually give instructions with little details. As well as concise feedback that often left me questioning the quality of my work in the beginning. However I soon adapted by asking more questions and learning how their workplace typically operates.
I definitely experienced a few challenges, especially with the language barrier. It was hard to navigate the Czech language when curating captions, researching content, and engaging with customers. However, I began to overcome my struggles by using my resources and always asking for help when needed. Another main challenge was the remote assignments because this meant that I would get less instruction and opportunity to ask questions. It was definitely difficult at times, especially when I had to meet a deadline and wasn’t able to ask about the correct time of the event. This taught me problem solving skills by forcing me to find answers elsewhere, and ask questions ahead of time.
This internship gave me a new sense of confidence and independence. I was able to successfully navigate life in a foreign country. From public transport, to grocery shopping, to meeting new people. I began to get comfortable with changes in schedule, and their different communication styles. I began to love being challenged, and overcome my fear of conflict. It was definitely fascinating to apply classroom concepts of digital media in a real-world setting. Especially seeing communication theory play out in audience engagement and brand perception. Overall I got a lot of experience in a professional environment that I can use in future marketing classes at Pitt. I also plan to use my global perspective in class discussions and integrate this creative energy towards later projects. I’m so sad it’s over, but deeply grateful for all the incredible lessons I’ve learned!
