Diary of a new Laika cadet: This is how my first month as an intern looked like

I was more than nervous walking up all the stairs (there are a lot of them) to the office on my first day. Starting the internship on a Tuesday meant that I jumped directly into the weekly team meeting - fast-paced sync talk about clients, projects, and whatnot. As you can imagine at that point everything was very overwhelming and I felt like I am never going to be able to remember all these things and especially being a part of them. But with the days passing, I got more and more into the matter of PR and - attention spoiler - I totally love it! 

“Having Zelda on my lap while working…

…on my laptop is better than I could have ever imagined my perfect work situation to be like”

Annalena

What to expect from an internship at Laika

My tasks during the last weeks have been very diverse. From the daily media monitoring to different things like helping with pitch writing, doing research for media lists for different clients, or drawing up social posts for Laika’s own channels. Added to that, I have some bigger projects to work on, for example writing a white paper or developing event lists. All in all, every day is different and full of new things to learn. I definitely enjoy my daily tasks because having this routine helped me a lot to find my way into the everyday working life of a PR consultant. For me, the mixture of both - recurring and varying tasks - makes the internship as exciting as it is. In a PR agency, the days are hardly ever one hundred percent predictable. At any given moment an important email, a new spontaneous product launch, or other projects can arrive. As an intern at Laika you are never left out, but are integrated and can help your colleagues or even take matters into your own hands. I never thought that I would have sent out my own pitches at this point - which was really exciting by the way.

Getting the opportunity to take part in client meetings is again something very new for me. Before my internship, I had no idea what these calls looked like or what to prepare in advance. Seeing Ela and the others perform helped me a lot to understand the working practices in PR. Last but not least there are a lot of workshops, for example, a business English course, a finance workshop or the “PR for beginners” workshop given by Ela. So interns are not just supporting the team here at Laika, we also get the opportunity to learn a lot. 

Being a member of the Laika space dogs

The team is a mixture of people with different backgrounds, which for me was one of the reasons why I wanted to do my internship at Laika. Everyone, as an expert in his or her field, brings in different skills as well as ideas and together they form new ideas. I love all the creativity and curiosity in the office! As an intern, you are directly involved in all creative processes and you really don't have to be afraid to express your own ideas. Quite to the contrary, you are more than welcome to bring in ideas and your own notes to a topic.

There is no need to be afraid to ask for help, even when things get stressful, the atmosphere among each other is never tense. All the work-related stuff aside, it never gets boring in the office. Lots of laughs and lovely talks with colleagues and Zelda is always there for a cuddle. Having Zelda on my lap while working on my laptop is better than I could have ever imagined my perfect work situation to be like.

The monthly team events like the boat trip with a lot of grilled goodies and wine we did in September are a great opportunity for new Laika cadets to get to know the rest of the crew better. All in all, I never got the impression that I am “just the new intern” but an actual part of Laika.

Time flies when you’re…

My first month at Laika flew by so quickly that I am already a bit sad that I have only two and half more months to go. Just a month ago, I honestly had no idea what I would like to do after my studies. The first month with Laika has already brought me so much in this respect. Not only the work experience itself but also exchange ideas with everyone about what they have done were really valuable for me. I am more than happy to say that through the first month of my internship I have found a possible track for my future: Thank you Laika for offering me the perfect start into the PR universe!