Are you looking to apply for the ElementIQ internship program? I guess that’s why you are here to read my blog, and yes, this is exactly how I started with my research too!
This blog is my first week of internship experience at ElementIQ, and I’m glad that you are here to read it. Before we began, I would love to share my journey of becoming an element.
Realization of Technology
For a person who has experienced the world shifting from modern to digital, it makes me think a lot about my career path over the past three years. During my childhood, the only digital thing was TV, and it took up a big part of my life. I must say I loved watching cartoons when I was a kid; even now I am an adult, I still cannot resist watching them.
When my nieces are watching cartoons, I sit down with them and we watch it together. I must say, cartoons have some magic in them that makes them irresistible. As I watch, I always feel something is missing that makes everything feel too smooth. THE COMMERCIALS! I never realized how much a commercial would impact me. Those Hot Wheels commercials made me ask my mom so many times if I could have them, yet I still don’t have them.
Hot Wheels commercial
As I grew older, I realized how impacting those commercials were. Although I don’t own the toys, it did get my attention to ask my mom for a purchase. Imagine ten kids doing it, there will definitely be a success case for purchase. As time goes on, not many people own TV cable, and not many will see the commercials because everyone is on their phone or computer. Those commercials still exist, and they are just called ads.
During my education at BCIT, I’ve been exposed to so many digital techniques, such as web development, graphic design, and video editing. I have never thought of myself doing anything digital because I’m that Asian kid who thinks maybe being a businessman will bring success to my career.
Of course, this is not the case because I know everything is digitalized, and you can feel it since everything is on the internet. We rely so much on technology that we don’t even realize, especially during COVID; when everyone needs to work from home, technology becomes necessary for everyone to stay connected.
Becoming An Element
People always say it is crucial to plan before you start doing anything. When I was studying I realized that this statement is true. If you never plan, you find yourself stumbling around, and nothing will get done. To do web development, you need to plan your file placement. Also, to do digital marketing, you need to execute a robust digital marketing plan.
Why does the company have a project manager?
Because you need someone to plan ahead and make sure things are getting completed.
After graduating from BCIT, I started my first job as a web developer, and I was so excited that I finally started my career. During the work, I was exposed to digital marketing to divide the workload, but the tasks I was doing were just the tactical side of digital marketing.
As I did more, I became interested in digital marketing, so I asked myself if I want to pursue my career as a digital marketer. Eventually, I left my job and went to BrainStation for digital marketing. One thing that always interested me is digital marketing's strategy side because it is at the heart of making your business successful.
After three months at BrainStation, my friend sent me a screenshot of a digital marketing agency that was looking for an intern, and that digital marketing agency is ElementIQ. I began my research, and as I went through the website, social media and the blog post that was posted from the previous intern, I was fascinated with the team and the work that ElementIQ had done.
As I sent over my cover letter and resume hoping I would get a response from them, I was invited to do my first interview with ElementIQ a week after. I was so happy and excited that I had the opportunity to showcase myself, and a few more weeks later, I was invited to join the ElementIQ internship program.
Photo by Kevin Bhagat on Unsplash
First Week of My Internship Experience
Day 1 - Meeting the Team
I was super excited to start my very first remote day at ElementIQ. I hopped on to Zoom at 10 a.m. to meet Andrea and Robert for onboarding. Andrea began by introducing us to the tools that ElementIQ uses for communication, Slack, Teamwork, etc. During the onboarding, we were to set up all the accounts, and that was when I knew I am officially part of the ElementIQ team.
After onboarding, I was told to have a 1-on-1 with the rest of the ElementIQ teams. At first, I was nervous and unsure of what to expect, but I felt very welcome and warm as soon as I got into the 1-on-1 with the team.
As I shared my story and the team members sharing their stories, I felt very comfortable talking to each one of them. The 1-on-1 on the first day was the most excellent way to start in a new company because you got to understand everyone’s role and personalities, especially in a remote environment.
Day 2 - First Daily Huddle
Another exciting morning because it was my first daily huddle at ElementIQ. As Andrea had onboarded with us about the daily huddle on day one, I was informed that each member would have to share their Wins (Highlight of the day prior) and Big Rock (One specific, actionable item of the day).
Once the round is done, we move onto Blockers (Actionable items that need support from other team members) and Chatter (Talking points). After blockers and chatter had been resolved, the person who was to host the huddle had to share a quote or anything they found valuable for the team. The huddle's sharer was Brendan, and he had shared an ad that I found is so funny yet so true.
Ad by Smile at the World Orthodontics
After the daily huddle, we watched a webinar "Rand Fishkin: Influencer Marketing & SEO" hosted by SharpSpring. As Rand Fishkin shared his experience and the data he had gathered, I gained a lot of knowledge and was happy that ElementIQ shared this valuable information with us.
As soon as the webinar was done, we jumped into our first training session on Teamwork with Andrea. During the training, we learned effective communication and estimation for each task are crucial to keeping the team informative on what is happening. We wouldn't want any of our team members to fall behind on information, and this was why our first training was to learn how to use Teamwork effectively.
After a long day of training, would you think the day had ended? Last week, I was informed that ElementIQ was planning to have a rock climbing event at The Hive, and I was invited to join the team for rock climbing. I was delighted and excited to have a chance to meet the team in person, even though it is only my second day. However, with covid and everyone having to work from home remotely, how often would you have a chance to meet the team in person.
Day 3 - Busiest Day
I was the host for the daily huddle, and it was quite an exciting experience for me. With the professionalism everyone brought during the huddle, it was my time to share, and the thing I shared with the ElementIQ team was the Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma.” The documentary gave me a different perspective on how I view the social network that is impacting us daily, positively and negatively.
“Social media isn't a tool that’s waiting to be used. It has its own goals, and it has its own means of pursuing them by using your psychology against you.” - Tristan Harris, Co-Founder & President of Center for Humane Technology
After the huddle, Robert and my first training of the day was to go through the “elements” of marketing at ElementIQ with Andrea. I learned the different services ElementIQ provides for their clients, contents, development, SEO, social media, etc. I quickly learned the operation side of ElementIQ and quickly understood what to expect for my internship at ElementIQ.
After our training with Andrea, we joined Julia for our second training of the day, and learnt about lead generation for ElementIQ. The biggest lesson is building trust and being transparent with the clients, and these are the values ElementIQ cares for the most.
Lastly, we had our weekly meeting where we went over the Wins for the week, and later we shared the News and Numbers of this week to see what are positive and negative. Whether we received positive or negative news; our goal was to always learn to improve and bring success to ElementIQ. Day 3 at ElementIQ was the busiest so far, but being productive at work is always a great thing.
Photo by Elena Kloppenburg on Unsplash
Day 4 - Be an Element
Due to Thanksgiving on Monday, we only have four days for my first week, but I felt a lot of accomplishment and acquired a lot of knowledge over the week, thanks to the team at ElementIQ.
After the huddle, Robert and I got to hear the story from the founder of the company, Sam, talking about how ElementIQ was formed. I really appreciate the time Sam had spent his time telling the story because how often would you have had a chance to hear the story from the owner directly?
In the afternoon, I got to share my experience of my first week internship with Andrea. All I can say is the positive because I can not find anything negative about this internship experience. Just within the first week, I had acquired so much information that helped me with my journey for the internship.
Next Step of Being an Element
So what is my next step?
Knowing ElementIQ had invested so much time in perfecting their internship program, I felt extremely lucky that ElementIQ had chosen me for being their intern and given me such a great internship experience.
Needing to learn is always the motivation of mine, and being able to acquire so much information just in the first week of internship, you know you land in the right place.
My journey at ElementIQ had just begun. Seeing my Teamwork and Calendar filled with learning opportunities get me excited about what comes next.
“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.” - Bruce Lee
Exactly what Bruce Lee said. I am always ready to take on challenges and prepare to bring value to ElementIQ.
Photo by Jukan Tateisi on Unsplash
Are You Ready to Become an Element?
Apply here and get ready to take on those challenges ElementIQ had prepared for you. I guarantee that you will also have a fantastic internship experience like me.
