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Confessions of a Marketing Intern
Hi! I’m Phoebe and for the past 13 months, I’ve been completing my University placement as a Marketing Intern at 3 Sided Cube. Read on as I tell you all about how I got here, what I’ve been up to, and some top tips if you’re interested in a future internship with Cube!
5 min read
Culture
If you’re reading this thinking ‘Hold on, I remember there was a Marketing Intern called Phoebe at Cube before’, then you’d be correct! Before my placement, I joined 3 Sided Cube for a three-week internship in July 2021, which you can read about here.
In August last year, I came back to 3 Sided Cube to pick up right where I left off!
The role of marketing
Before I jump into it, let’s take a step back and talk about what marketing means at 3 Sided Cube.
At the centre of everything 3 Sided Cube does is our mission to “Change millions of lives for the better”.
However, we wouldn’t be able to achieve this if we didn’t have the opportunity for our ridiculously talented team to build great projects!
That’s where the marketing team steps in.
We are responsible for producing awesome content to build brand awareness so our potential clients learn more about us and can lean on us for our expert advice on Technology and app building. From email campaigns and social content to hosting events and recording the podcast, there’s a range of activities that the team works on.
With all of that in mind, I was beyond excited to begin my placement and do my bit to get the tech for good message out there!
Starting out
Although it wasn’t a completely new experience, I still had those first-day nerves. A lot can change in a year. New people, new processes, and sometimes even new places! But everyone was so helpful and welcoming that it soon felt like I was coming back to a place like home.
My First Week
The onboarding process was really well organised! It was so helpful that I knew what I’d focus on for my first few days before I started. The rest of the week I completed the following:
- Speed dating with the Cubes
- Setting up with everything I needed
- My Happy Half-Hour Presentation about me
- Getting to know and catching up with the Marketing team
My First Month
For the rest of my first month, I spent time:
- Familiarising with the processes I already knew
- Introduction meetings with the wider team
- Having fun at the Cube Summer Party!
- Getting stuck in with new tasks
What I’ve been up to
While I’m writing this (or more specifically typing), it feels really strange to think back to when I first started. So much has happened since then!
No day has been the same during my placement, and I’ve had a few ad-hock tasks amongst my regular tasks. But above all, these are my favourite things that I’ve worked on:
Internal newsletter
This is the most exciting task I’ve worked on during my placement!
With many of the Cubes working remotely, we looked at internal communications to ensure everyone was kept informed and up-to-date.
That’s where the Internal newsletter came in. I was a part of the initial research and organisation, to then being responsible for creating the newsletter every month. Feedback from the wider team has meant that the newsletter has developed a lot since its first edition.
To own a task from start to finish has been such a confidence boost as well as a huge learning opportunity!
Recruitment Newsletter
From one newsletter to another!
The internal communications were coming together really well, so we also looked at how we could communicate better with people wanting to join 3 Sided Cube.
The recruitment newsletter had a similar development process to the internal newsletter, but the content needed to be slightly different given the different audience.
This prompted a different strategy that has equally developed a lot since the first recruitment newsletter.
Now the newsletter delivers our current vacancies, the latest Cube Academy updates, and other relevant information straight to the recruitment contacts’ inboxes every month.
If this sounds like something you’d be interested in receiving, then take a read of our privacy policy and send an email to apply@3sidedcube.com to let us know you’d like to sign up!
3 Sided Cube Talks
Throughout my placement, 3 Sided Cube has held many events, both virtual and in-person!
My role in these events was to reach out to potential panelists and to invite attendees. This meant I could fully get to grips with new platforms and tools that I hadn’t used before.
I was also able to manage our email campaigns for these events, encouraging even more attendees from our wider contacts.
For me, the most memorable event was Women in Tech 2023. It was an amazing panel and an overall awe-inspiring discussion. The fact it was 3 Sided Cube’s most attended event of the year really speaks volumes and you can read more about the event here!
Knowing that I had played a part in bringing people together for these events was an amazing feeling!
Podcast blogs
This has been a more recent task, but it has provided even more variety to my placement experience.
The Igniting Change podcast has three seasons packed full of incredible conversations with incredible guests across the tech for good space. To give listeners a taste of what to expect, 3 Sided Cube publishes an accompanying blog for these episodes.
I loved writing about some of season three’s episodes as it was great practice to help develop my own writing process and style. The podcast itself was also so interesting to listen to. It helped me to realise how a podcast can be extremely beneficial as a marketing function and in spreading the news about amazing developments happening in the tech for good sector.
Accessibility course
Everyone at 3 Sided Cube has a personal development budget, so I was over the moon that this applied to me too!
Based on personal experience, my own interest, and after hearing about accessibility from the wider team, I used part of my budget to attend a social media accessibility course. It was so so valuable! The training itself had a lot of information and examples to expand my understanding. I also had the opportunity to share what I had learnt with the rest of the marketing team during one of our ‘Lunch & Learn’ sessions.
Talking and presenting about social media accessibility to others boosted my confidence as I realised how much I had learnt from the training. Discussing the different topics also highlighted the remaining gaps in my knowledge, so I know where I’ll likely research and develop further.
What have I learnt?
Gaining industry experience provides the perfect opportunity to learn and develop new and existing skills.
By being involved in various tasks, I was able to use new software like 3 Sided Cube’s Content Management and Customer Relationship Management systems, as well as the social media channels and reporting methods. After using Microsoft Office throughout my education, I’m now also familiar with using Google Workspace!
In terms of soft skills, my communication, problem-solving, and prioritisations skills have developed the most. My commercial awareness has improved too, as hearing about all the recent social media updates and trends is much easier when working as part of a team.
I’ve also got a few new certificates too! By completing different training during my year at Cube, I’ve got some tangible evidence that I can add to my CV too.
What’s next?
Now I’m heading back to Nottingham for my final year of university, to write my research project, and eventually walk across the graduation stage with my degree!
Also, I’m so excited to share that I’ll be staying on at Cube! The team said they ‘couldn’t live without me’ and I’m over the moon to continue working with such an incredible group of people.
I know that what I’ve learned during my placement will absolutely support my final year projects and it has helped me to develop both professionally and personally in so many different ways.
For my research project, I wasn’t expecting to have an idea that I felt passionate about before I started final year. But working at 3 Sided Cube has helped me recognise my passion and interest in accessibility in marketing. Fingers crossed this is something I can explore as my project topic!
Top tips if you’re interested in a future internship with 3 Sided Cube
Want to get involved in changing millions of lives for the better? Here are some of my top tips for you!
Don’t be afraid to get in touch
Back in 2021, My first contact with 3 Sided Cube was an enquiry email I sent despite there not being any vacancies at the time. If I hadn’t of sent that email, I wouldn’t be writing this now!
Although there’s been a lot of development within the company and recruitment since then, never underestimate the power of trying.
Sign up for our recruitment newsletter
As I mentioned earlier, the best way to keep up to date with the latest recruitment from 3 Sided Cube is by signing up for our recruitment newsletter. You can do this by reading our privacy policy and sending an email to apply@3sidedcube.com to let us know you’d like to sign up!
Take a look at Cube Academy
With roles across the team, Cube Academy is a great opportunity to learn and develop. You can even work alongside your studies, as long as you can work a minimum of 16 hours a week.
Follow us on socials
Follow us on X (or are we all still secretly calling it Twitter?), Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube, for all of 3 Sided Cube’s latest news and updates.
Published on August 22, 2023, last updated on August 23, 2023
