My First Internship: 10 Takeaways For My Future

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Michael Magnus
By Lucy Long

Internships- the golden ticket for almost any college student who hopes to get some real-world experience. These coveted opportunities are hard to find but even harder to earn. With every student fighting over the same position, the competition increases, making finding an internship as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack. So, once you earn that internship opportunity, you want to make sure every concept, piece of advice, and material learned becomes a valuable addition to your toolbox.
This summer, I learned the real meaning of “intern” when working for Magnus Opus. An internship is not about doing work to add experience to your resume and material to your portfolio but is instead about learning new concepts that can contribute to your future endeavors. These opportunities are built for students to learn new ideas and find what they want to do with their lives, not so you can get a job easier.
This summer was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that allowed me to focus on my writing and learn different concepts. After reflecting on these irreplaceable 12 weeks, I decided to compress my internship into my top 10 takeaways that will help me succeed in the future.

1. The Mystery of Google

I had no idea how monumental Google was in the world of business. Their algorithm determines which businesses gain traction and which businesses fall into the abyss of “what could have been.” 

Google ranks websites based on credibility and many other metrics i.e., link building and click-thru rates. Not only do they rank, but they have their own rule book. For example, if a business uses black hat tactics to gain links to their site, google can punish them and take away any chance of reaching the first few ranks.

Google is the teacher you have to kiss up to in order to get a good grade. By following the rules and working hard, Google will see your potential.

2. How To Write An Email

Okay, we have ALL written emails before, but writing emails for outreach is much different. When outreaching to other blog sites, you must be formal and informative.
I learned how to market myself in an email and show my interest in the business I am emailing. I used to think emails should be short and quick, but emails need to share valuable information. One email can be your make or break in any situation; may that be a new job or an article placement, email writing is a skill.
Make your emails detailed, informative, and they must explain how your work benefits them.

3. You Can’t Just Make A Website

I used to believe that making a website requires you just to make a website title in some random generator, and then you have a website. Honestly, not a big thought-out plan.
But no, in order to make your own website, you need to buy web hosting. Also, there is not just one type of server; you have to choose from different ones. We learned a lot about web hosting.
Next, you need to use a site like WordPress to create the website and its pages. This part is harder than you think! But, during my internship, I learned how to create a website. This practice is a skill that will always come in handy and will add potential to my resume and portfolio.

4. How To Network

One of the most important skills I learned this summer was how to network. Magnus Opus allowed me to meet some influential people in the communications field who gave me incredible insights.
I had the opportunity to zoom with Alexis Kransinski and ask her questions about her journey to her position at HostGator. I also had the chance to network with the career counselor at TCU, Aaron Harris, and helped him start up his new non-profit, Keeping My Promise. In return, Aaron gave me a recommendation on Linkedin. Although it only took him a minute or two to write, my potential for future opportunities grew immensely.
By meeting these influential figures, I was able to connect with them on LinkedIn and potentially, in the future, use them as a resource when seeking professional endeavors.

5. Learn How To Work A Spreadsheet

Throughout the summer, I worked with many excel spreadsheets. I’ve had to find specific keywords, reorder words by a particular metric, and much more. After time, I was able to find a shortcut, but if I had been Excel certified, I would have saved a lot of time.
But, this was a life lesson. Sometimes you have to take the hard way before it gets easy. Just like in finding an internship, It can be tough to find one, but once you’re in and have a job and a new contact. Your path will be slightly easier with your unique experience.
On the other hand, I recommend getting Excel certified because learning how to work excel is a talent many employers hope to see.

6. Check Your Work Again…Again….And A Couple More Times

I wrote multiple personal articles and others on behalf of clients; for example, Elktracks Studios and Amazon SEO Experts. After spending time writing, you kind of just give up on checking your work and looking for mistakes. Or, if you do check, you glance over the words without putting too much thought into it.
BUT YOU CAN’T.
You want to make sure the piece has NOTHING wrong with it; even one misspelled word could diminish your credibility. To combat this, I learned the old fashion red pen technique, simply printing out the paper and going through it with a red pen will help you so much. You will find way more mistakes than expected, and your future self will thank you.
Checking work is vital for any internship. One mistake could be the make or break how a professional thinks of you. So, I repeat, make sure you become a personal spell and grammar check. Yes, there are multiple resources to help look for mistakes, but I would rather be safe than sorry when it comes to work that will be published and viewed by others.

7. How SEO Works

Well, this is a big one. Magnus Opus primarily works with Search Engine Optimization; this was the basis of the work I did throughout the summer. At first, I was unable to explain what SEO was when my family asked what I was doing for my internship. Usually, I would say something along the lines of “helping websites rank better with Google.” Yes, this definition is correct, but now I can answer any questions they may have about SEO and give a more intricate answer, such as, “help websites optimize their content through link building and keyword placement which, in return, causes Google to rank them higher in the search engine.”
Simple SEO tactics that I now understand and used to help my friend with her business website are not limited to how to optimize a website. I also learned how to implement keywords on a website and find these specific keywords by using the AMAZING resource known as Moz.
Over the summer, I learned how to use Moz when doing SEO work for websites. Moz allows you to track keywords and check out your site and look for any problems. You can see the traffic for the website and their ranking for any keyword. Honestly, Moz is fun to mess around with when working with websites.

8. Leatherwork Is Interesting

You’re probably thinking: Why is there a key takeaway about leatherwork? But, if you intern for Magnus Opus, you will understand. Over the summer, I wrote articles for Elktrack Studios and had to learn about all the leather-crafting tools.
Before, I had no idea what leather work was and never even thought about it. But, I had to teach myself about this hobby and learn how to write about it. To this day, if you have a question about leather and the tools you need to get started, I am confident I can answer it.
This talent of understanding new concepts quickly is essential in life. In future jobs, you will have to learn things quickly.
As Michael Scott said, “You gotta do something, man. You can’t just sit there.”
I had to understand how these tools work to write an article about them. I had to teach myself something new and fast. By gaining this talent of quickly understanding a subject, I can get work done quicker. Rather than sitting there and being confused, I can now learn something quickly and write about it.

9. A Mentor

I not only gained new experiences and skills over the summer, but I also gained a Mentor. Magnus worked closely with my coworker and I. His goal was not to have us do work but to gain experience for our future.
He connected us with contacts and introduced us to random people i.e., a private investigator who was also on a singing reality show. We were also given life lessons such as rejection is inevitable when outreaching,
And don’t have a zoom call while on a ladder…. That’s a story for another time, though.
Magnus will forever be a resource when looking for new job opportunities and advice. His goal is to help others succeed, and I know if I ever need a recommendation or help, Magnus will be the first person I contact.

10. A New Friend

Not to be sentimental, but this internship included a girl named Caroline Hughes and I. Magnus paired us up because he knew our work ethic and thought we would work well together.
He was right.
Caroline and I became close friends from all the collaboration we would do together over our three-hour facetime calls. We not only become good friends, but we also become resources for one another. We can check each other’s work and give honest feedback because we know each other’s writing styles. We also know how to work with one another and ask the tough questions–which can make or break the dynamic of most team projects.
Internships will allow you to meet new and different people, and if you’re lucky, you can find your own Caroline.

Wrap-up

My internship with Magnus Opus gave me opportunities and lessons that will take me far in life. I can impress employers with my new SEO skills and link-building tactics. I can synthesize information and understand tough topics. Though these are only a few of the skills I learned over these couple of weeks, the payoff of having them is lifelong.
This summer, I gained new knowledge, a mentor, and a best friend. This trifecta will take me far in the future. I have the tools and resources many employers are looking for. I have a mentor who can help me find new opportunities, and I have a friend who understands my career goals and can push me in the future because she knows what my best work is.
I would never change the experience I had this summer because the effects are lifelong. I can confidently say I am paving a path to success for my future all because of my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to intern for Magnus Opus.

You can see a snapshot of the work I have done during these 12 weeks by checking out some of my publications:

http://blog.purplepass.com/increase-your-events-traffic-and-sales-online-with-backlinks
https://searchenginecage.com/how-pr-and-seo-benefit-each-other-in-the-equation-for-success/
https://digitalagencynetwork.com/pr-and-seo-two-terms-growing-together/
https://www.socialmediadelivered.com/insights/seo-for-smb
https://www.thecampussocialite.com/key-tips-to-creating-a-successful-blog/
https://chasethewritedream.com/making-write-for-us-work-for-you/
https://www.fincyte.com/keyword-fundamentals-of-seo/
https://sheownsit.com/freelancing-for-the-longrun/

My internship not only gave me an impressive resume and portfolio but paved a path of success for my future.

Author Byline
Lucy Long is a Strategic Communications major with a Data Analytics minor at Texas Christian University. Lucy is a content creator at Magnus Opus.