August 17, 2017
My experience with Hanapin gave me high standards for future employers and taught me why your colleagues are the most important part of your job.
This summer I was a Client Services Intern at Hanapin Marketing for 10 weeks. Although it was my first experience as an intern, it set the bar high for future internship programs. Going into my first internship, I was nervous of being thrown into tasks without proper training or being a glorified coffee-runner/copy-maker. However, I never encountered any of these scenarios at Hanapin. Luckily, I stumbled upon the Indeed.com advertisement when I did, because it brought me to the best internship in Indiana. Here are a few of the highlights from my time at Hanapin:
Day 1 at Hanapin
From the welcoming committee and coffee at Crumble to the swag bag and handwritten greeting cards, I felt important as an intern from my first day at Hanapin Marketing. As soon as I walked in the door, many members of the team approached me and started conversations as if I had been working there for years. I quickly learned that this was the office culture at Hanapin. Everyone at my internship was friendly and offered something unique to the office dynamic. The conversations I had with my colleagues the first day did so much to make me feel like a part of the team, not just another lowly intern. There is a reason why Hanapin has received best employer in Indiana for two years running and I quickly saw that as soon as the first day at my internship.
My Supervisor
My supervisor Kristine made me feel valued in many ways at Hanapin. First, she reminded me everyday during meetings that the work I was doing was valuable and would be utilized for years to come. Second, Kristine included me in every Monday Morning Meeting (MMM). During these meetings, she talked about my projects and how important they were to the entire Hanapin Team. This weekly reminder fostered a sense of pride in the work that I was doing at Hanapin. Third, Kristine allowed me to give the update during a few of the MMM’s towards the end of my internship. This was extremely nerve wrecking, but helped me to step outside of my box. Fourth, she encouraged me to participate in exercises during the training sessions, which helped me grow and develop as a professional person. Kristine was not only a good supervisor, but also a great life-coach and friend.
REDBOP with GA and Google
Remote week was one of my favorite weeks at my internship. Not only did I get access to my supervisor in-person for the entire week, but I also got to sit in on all of the trainings sessions with the Hanapin team. To my delight, one of the sessions was a sponsored training session with our Google partners. The speaker’s name was GA and he brought so much enthusiasm and wit into the training session. He taught us so much about being good sales people and improving our communication skills. Not only did I get valuable takeaways from the session, but I also got the chance to bond with the rest of the Hanapin team outside of the office.
Presentation Day
On the day of my presentation I felt everything coming full circle. Everything I learned during those 10 weeks would be put on display for my supervisor and the Director of Services. During my presentation, I surprised myself with all of the knowledge that I had obtained throughout a ten-week period. It was easy to talk about the onboarding process, accountability during the first 90 days and the different types of clients. It turns out that all of the shadowing, training sessions and department overviews were extremely helpful in order to present my project thoroughly and accurately. Hanapin’s internship program truly gave me the resources and confidence to present my final project to the best of my ability.
Closing Thoughts
The Hanapin team, the office culture and my supervisor are just a few of the things I will miss the most about my time at Hanapin. I doubt I will be able to replicate the awesomeness of this internship anywhere else. However, in the future, I will strive to find employers who will treat me with as well as Hanapin. Moreover, I hope I will find a supervisor with as much candor, enthusiasm and experience as Kristine. Kristine really made my time at Hanapin special and I can’t thank her enough! Finally, I hope that all interns get the chance to experience an internship program as fantastic as Hanapin’s.