6 Lessons in 6 Months
Taking the time to look back at my first 6 months at Salad has made me so proud of myself and my progress from intern to communications assistant. These 6 months have gone by in a flash, and I’m so excited to see what 2025 has in store for the team at Salad and I! There are a few important lessons that I can credit my growth in confidence to, which I try to keep in mind in my work, as well as in my personal life.
Communication is so important!
Transparency will make any job so much easier when everyone is on the same page. I’ve learnt that this is when the most collaborative and interesting ideas and conversations can happen. I’ve been so lucky that the team has been really understanding of my schedule, as I complete my final year of uni alongside working. Anytime I’ve felt I needed extra help to delegate my time fairly between uni and work, being completely open and transparent about what I have going on outside of work has really helped in coming up with a plan of how we can create the best outcome as a team.
It’s okay to not know all the answers.
I came to realise after a few weeks into my role that I hadn’t been completely new to something for quite a long time. I hadn’t considered the total shift I was going to experience when joining a team in a junior role that was entirely new to me. But the good thing about this and what I had to keep reminding myself of was that nobody was expecting me to know everything!
This is why I’d recommend an internship if you’re looking to learn while in the role, because for me it’s meant I’ve been able to share my creative ideas, while being able to listen and learn from those around me. My only reference for a real meeting came from movies and TV (I pictured Mad Men, just with less cigars), but what I realised in my first client meeting was that it was nothing to be intimidated by, it’s really as simple as a conversation. This first experience was great at building my confidence and if I could go back now, I’d tell myself not to be intimidated by it, but to just listen and take in as much as possible from others.
Self motivation is a necessity.
In a team where I’m often in conversations with people so knowledgeable and rich in industry experience, it was hard not to feel like a fish out of water in the beginning. Marketing lingo felt like a foreign language to me in my first month (Seriously, how is there an acronym for everything!?), but becoming comfortable with the feeling of unknowing is your best friend. I found it so important to remind myself I have a seat at the table for a reason. If you can't believe for yourself that you belong in those rooms, you can’t expect anyone else to believe for you!
Make sure to celebrate the small wins as well as the big ones.
Sometimes a productive day where lots of small tasks are ticked off can feel just as good as a big win day. My work with YO! Sushi managing their influencer marketing has involved some amazing big wins, but also lots of small personal wins too. I feel I have learnt so much about the process of moving projects forward to each stage and how important the successful day to day tasks are. Making a project run smoothly all the way through is just as impressive as the final result. The important thing is to make sure to pat yourself on the back at each pit stop!
Collaboration is everything.
During my first 6 months, I had the opportunity to work on a photoshoot for a fashion client which really highlighted the value of collaboration and how group synergy can make all the difference in a project. Pulling together the shoot taught me so much about how to utilise your network to pull the strings to make a vision come to life.
Watching the photoshoot come together was like watching a play or seeing a factory in motion. The photographers, videographers, models, makeup artists, stylists, and creative team all played their role so professionally and smoothly and it’s a day I’ll remember for a long time in my career as hugely inspirational. To see this network of talented creatives put their all into helping us launch the brand made me value the importance of everyone’s individual role and seeing everyone put their own flair and ideas into the project was a reflection of the power of working together to create something spectacular.
Use every opportunity to grow and learn.
In PR and marketing, things can move at 100 miles per hour, so it’s important to make the most of every experience as it happens before it passes you by. At an influencer event in summer I made sure to make the most of the opportunity to be in a room full of inspiring creatives and grow my network by speaking to and learning from others that I otherwise wouldn’t have had the chance to meet. Being in the unique position to have a job in this industry before I graduate, it’s been really beneficial to me to use all of the resources I have access to, from the team’s expertise to online tools and my own personal network.
Looking back at my first 6 months starting as an intern and becoming a communications assistant, I cannot recommend an internship enough for anyone looking to start out in a new industry. Being new to something can feel extremely vulnerable and sometimes uncomfortable, but internships can be brilliant at bridging the gap between university and a first full time position, which for many (myself included) can be hugely daunting. I am so excited to grow with Salad in 2025 and build on these foundations. I am immensely proud of my progress and look forward to looking back in another 6 months at what I have achieved!
