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My first week at Elite SEM

By Tinuiti Team

In the days leading up to the start date for my Elite SEM Internship, I was very anxious. I didn’t know what to expect!  I was also worried that I wouldn’t know anything, considering I have no background in search engine marketing.  About a week before my internship began, I decided the best way to deal with my concerns was to soak up information on search engine marketing.  I memorized as much as I could from the Google AdWords Learning Center, aiming to at least complete the Fundamentals section.  I read all week, and didn’t go out during the weekend in exchange for studying.  The night before my internship, I stayed up until 5AM rushing to learn as much search engine marketing knowledge as possible.  I was utterly disappointed that I failed to review the last few links within the Fundamentals section.  Always anticipating the worst case scenario, I was positive that the other interns were experts in the field, and feared that I would be expected to take the Certification Exam on my first day.

When I arrived to Elite SEM for my first day as an Elite SEM Intern, I was greeted by Zach, the Vice President, and was introduced to my fellow interns, Josh and Anthony.  Upon meeting my fellow interns, I learned that they also had no background in search engine marketing, but were just as excited as I was to start at Elite SEM and to learn!  The first thing we did as interns was have a video call in the conference room with Abby, the Director of Paid Search, based in the Atlanta Elite SEM Office.  We each received a packet giving us some background on Elite SEM, on search engine marketing, on who we would each be working with, and a few things we should get done on the first day.  Just like that my first week at Elite SEM began.  Each intern was assigned a team, a Team Leader, and a “Go-to” Person, someone who was recently in our position as an intern, but was now an Analyst and could help us with any questions we may have.  I was assigned Marc, the Director of Marketing, as my Team Leader, and Shannon, an Analyst, as my “Go-to” Person.

During my first week I was assigned several projects, and focused most of my time working on a URL Audit for a client who recently updated their website.  The process seemed never-ending, and I kept stumbling on unanticipated errors on the revamped site.  Marc suggested I record the problems I was noticing on the site and shared them with the client.  At the end of the week, I listened in on Marc’s conference call with the client.  Marc explained the errors, and suggested ways to improve the site.  The client was aware of, and already working on fixing some of the problems, but was unaware of others, and was grateful that we pointed these out.  Marc’s interpersonal skills were quite impressive throughout the hour-long call as he covered all the important points and quickly won over the client’s new management, energetically leading the discussion.  I wondered if one day I too will lead client phone calls with such ease and finesse.

I was surprised at how rewarding the entire process was, from working on the URL Audit for a few days and the mild frustration that came along with it, to hearing the client really appreciate the problems I had found on their site.  At my previous internships, I was given tasks to help my supervisors, but was never given the chance to witness how the work I personally spent hours, sometimes days, on translated in the big picture.  It was as if whatever I worked on disappeared into thin air upon completion, and I was hastily assigned new tasks that grew meaningless to me because I never learned of their success rate, a cycle that was monotonous and unrewarding.  At Elite SEM, being able to witness what my work transferred to past my computer screen was very fulfilling.

Each day I learned, and continue to learn, something new.  And each day, I grew more and more amazed at how positive the working environment at Elite SEM is.  During my first few days, virtually every person I met offered to be of help if I had any questions.  The work environment here is motivating, as it is clear that everyone works very hard and is happy to be here.  Not only is everyone nice and super friendly, but there’s something more present at Elite SEM- a team spirit, one that I can only hope to grow part of.

Want to learn more about joining Elite and potentially become an intern?  Check out our careers page and see if there are any openings in a city near you.

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