Finnish internship gets the thumbs up

Sissi Lehto is a final year business student at Strathclyde Business School and she’s spent the summer working as a project assistant for a Finnish marketing agency.

Blink Helsinki is a Finnish creative marketing agency specialising in advertising, branding and service design. My two-month internship allowed me to join an energetic team and gain valuable hands-on experience from the marketing world. I gained deeper insights into especially inbound marketing, allowing me to apply my previous knowledge from University in a real-life environment.

For example, I found myself often referring to my third-year integrated marketing communications course, which taught me the basics of inbound and digital marketing. This was especially relevant for my internship, and I found it very rewarding to be able to utilise previously leaned theory on a day-to-day basis at the office.

At Blink Helsinki I learned about inbound methodology and best practices through a client case, and I familiarised myself with HubSpot – an inbound marketing platform, through which I also completed an inbound certification. I was able to experience first-hand the growing use of digital communication channels suggesting the relevance of content marketing and marketing automation to various industries.

Besides working with inbound I also got to take part in various ongoing projects. My day-to-day tasks varied a lot and included, for example, prospecting, proofreading and translating, not to mention a bit of arts and crafts I got to do while putting together Blink’s summer gifts!

Additionally, I got to assist at an advertisement shoot, which was definitely a cool experience. I got to see what looks good from the photographer’s perspective, and I learned a lot about the practicalities that go with organising a shoot. What I really appreciated was that straight away I was involved in various projects with actual meaningful tasks, making me really feel like a part of the team.

All in all I’d say I had a wonderful summer with Blink Helsinki. I’ve definitely learned a lot about various aspects of marketing and sales during the two months, and the dynamic work environment and wonderful, supportive colleagues (including the adorable office dog "Oili") have guaranteed that I’ve been happy to come to work every morning.

Working as a project assistant has definitely reassured me that I’m on the right track, and that in my future I want to build my career within the marketing and advertising field. I believe that my internship will significantly help me with my studies, as I gained important industry insights, and I feel like I learned so much about emerging marketing trends and technologies. Besides that, my internship has definitely boosted my motivation to study hard and perform well in my final year at Strathclyde!

To sum things up: If I had to rate my experience, my rating would be 10/10, five stars and two thumbs up!

About Sissi Lehto

Sissie Lehto is a final year business student specialising in marketing at Strathclyde Business School.