Here at Zen Media, we’re pretty much obsessed – we eat, breathe, and sleep online marketing, and absolutely love what we do! So it’s only natural that we’d want to share the fun with the next generation. Our internship program gives college students the chance to dip their toes into the waters of web marketing, and learn valuable skills to help them land their dream jobs when they enter the workforce.
Today, we’d like to introduce you to Kaitlin Bain, one of our promising young content marketing interns. We’ll let Kaitlin tell you herself how she’s enjoying the experience.
1. Tell our readers a little bit about yourself!
My name is Kaitlin and I go to Texas Tech University. I will be a junior in the fall and I am a journalism and political science double major with a minor in Arabic. I am from Houston and love the city but have been enjoying the time off in “rural” Lubbock.
2. What is something unusual about you that makes you unique?
I think my minor in Arabic makes me pretty unique. Additionally, I would like to work as a political correspondent in the Middle East. I am really interested in the way each different culture impacts the political systems.
3. How did you first hear about Zen Media?
I heard about Zen Media from Indeed.com because I was looking up internships that I could be a part of this summer.
4. Why did you apply for a content marketing internship with Zen Media?
I want to be a journalist, but something that is very important in the changing journalism field is the ability to do a whole lot more than just journalism. I thought the internship would use skills that I already had while building on them and giving me new skills to use in the future.
5. Tell us a little about what you do as an intern for the Content Marketing Department at Zen Media.
As an intern for the Content Marketing Department at MZ I write about 6 or 7 blogs a week and include interlinking and keywords which target our clients’ target search audiences. These blogs are for a variety of different topics. An average workweek (just working on MZ material) would be about 6 or 7 posts. However, an average workweek in general for me would be 18 hours of class, two jobs and an internship. I like to stay busy.
6. How do you feel about working virtually?
I enjoy it a lot. It means if I’m feeling inspired at 1 a.m. in my PJs I can just go ahead and blog then. It also means I can take my blogs with me. Because I stay busy I have to manage my time well, so being able to bring my laptop with me and blog during the 10 minutes before class starts really helps get everything done.
7. What has been your favorite part of your internship so far?
My favorite part of my internship has been learning new skills and really getting the chance to use them on a variety of different topics.
8. What has been the most challenging part of your internship so far?
Some topics are more challenging to write about than others, but I feel that’s the nature of any kind of writing you’re getting paid for (in money or experience). So it is sometimes hard for me to come up with topics or enough interesting content for a post.
9. What do you feel is the most important thing you’ve learned from your content marketing internship so far? Why is this the most important thing to you?
The most important thing I’ve learned from my content marketing internship so far has definitely been how to make my writing fun. With a journalism background there’s not a whole lot of room for anything other than “paraphrase, paraphrase, quote” so to be able to break out of that and get comfortable with a different writing style as well has really benefitted me.
10. How would you describe MZ culture?
It’s so much fun. The first day I started, the content marketing team just welcomed me in, and I enjoy talking to them and gaining their input.
11. Now that you’ve had a glimpse into the world of online marketing, do you have any new insights into how it works? Any comments or opinions you’d like to share about the industry?
I don’t have a whole lot of new insight only because online marketing is my brother’s career, so I thought it was a really cool concept from the beginning of my internship. I enjoy that online marketing is targeting the consumer in a way that strays away from being hounded by calls and advertisements.
12. What are your plans for your future? What’s your dream job? How do you feel your content marketing internship with MZ will help you achieve those goals?
My dream job is to work for Al Jazeera in Doha, Qatar. For now, however, my goal is to graduate college with as much experience as possible so when applying for a job I can walk in to an employer, lay my resume down and be confident that I’ve gained the new skills and done the work in college to be the candidate that stands out during interviews.
13. Do you have any advice to share with future MZ interns, or with those applying for this position?
Have fun with it. This may be because I love writing, and the nature of my internship plus my jobs has me writing somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 words a day (not to mention writing for school), but I think it’s really important to have fun with the blogging, interlinking and keywords. If you’re having fun you’re more personable to the reader and they will (generally) enjoy reading your posts more. One thing the Internet has taught me is that there are a lot of people in the world that enjoy the same things I do. If you would read a blog post in the same style you’re writing, chances are others will too.
Are you interested an internship at Zen Media? Click here for more information! We’d love to have you on board!
