Job Responsibilities
Right now I am an intern, working towards a full-time job here.
Because I came from a non-profit background, even with an MBA, I
have to pay my dues and get some markeitng experience at a lower
level. My duties right now are to work on projects given to me
by anyone in my group. I spend most of my time on the computer
or in training sessions. I work on listing searchwords and
landing pages for our clients, which are mostly fortune 500
companies.
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Job Requirements
I found the program very challenging, but I was coming from a
non-business background. The quality of the classes was mostly
good, but there were a few that were pretty bad, including a
macroeconomics class where the professor was so bad that he was
fired mid-quarter. Getting into popular classes was not
difficult because it is a small program so if I had trouble, I
went to the professor or the graduate programs office. In
several instances, at the pressure of students who could not get
into a popular class, another session of that class was added to
the schedule. Grading was fair. It was based on a B+ average
for the class overall for core classes, though I know that has
changed since I left. Workload for me was quite heavy, but it
is what you make of it. I chose to work very hard and spend as
much time focusing on school as I could. Others spent much less
time studying and doing their work and still did fine grade-
wise, but I don't think they got as much out of the program.
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Uppers
This is an exciting time to be working in search marketing because its use is
increasin in both big and smaller companies. Also, as with anything centered
around the Internet, things are constantly changing and it is a challenge to stay
on top as the industry leader. As an intern, I have a chance to work with a
number of different people on various projects which gives me exposure to so many
aspects of the business. It is a real educational opportunity. Next week, for
instance, I will get to go visit the Google office and attend a training session
there. to me, learning is the best thing I can get out of this experience.
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Downers
The worstpart of being an intern is being an intern of course.
I do not have entire ownership of projects and I definitely feel
underemployed. However, this is only temporary and once I am
done with this, I feel I will be able to move up quickly because
of the base of knowledge I gained during my MBA.
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Lifestyle
Work hours are reasonable. I am supposed work about 8 hours a day, but things
are very causual and flexible here. The dress code is very casual and jeans are
allowed, though some people dress up more than others. There are social events,
like a holiday party at a bar in a few weeks and there are social events at work,
such as having cake in the kitchen for everyone once a month to celebrate
birthdays and company anniversaries. The atmosphere is very friendly and
non-competitive which is great. Also, there is free pop, coffee, tea and candy at
all times, which makes me feel that the company cares about its employees and
keeping them happy. I should note however, that even though the office has a
laid back feel to it, people are extremely busy and there is a lot of work to be
done, however people don't seem to be stressed about it like at other offices I
have seen.
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Compensation
As an intern, my compensation is pretty low. Embarressing for
an MBA grad actually, but like I said before, it is temporary so
I'm ok with it. Most interns here make $11.25 per hour. I was
offered $14.25 an hour because they felt that I was worth a
little bit more. I also will not receive benefits until I come
on full-time. Full-time employees though do receive healthcare
benefits and because we were recently acquired by a public
company (Doubleclick), I believe you can also get stock
options.
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Advice to Jobseekers
The field of internet marketing is growing like crazy right
now. This company had about 40 employees last year; we now have
over160!! It sounds amazing but that is how much work there is
to do in this. It's exciting and I think it will continue to
grow and evolve along with technology. Both retailers and
services firms are realizing the added value of hiring experts
to handle their search word and internet marketing and this too
will expand the market for such services.
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