Internship diary of a marketing intern at Carousell Taiwan
Written by Esther Hsu
Chinese version included after the English version
Driven by a passion and curiosity towards marketing and secondhand business, I joined Carousell as a marketing intern prior to graduation. Before I walked into the office with the pretty red wall, I had imagined several times what the people and things were like there. Everything was beyond my imagination, and even much better. I would like to share my experiences to record the good time here.
“At Carousell, we believe in Share Possible.”
The reason why I had a strong passion and desire to join Carousell is because I have been a user on the platform for more than three years; not only selling or buying products, but also sharing or contacting others in friendly encounters within the app. I have met a lot of nice in-app users as well as earning cash during my college life. In addition, with rapid growth in the new economy and business, secondhand sales have the potential to cater to people’s demand and desire.
“Inspire every person in the world to start selling and buying to make more possible for one another.”
What better way to promote the great vision and mission than to join the Carousell? People at Carousell believe in more than just buying and selling; in the power of shared possibilities that people bring. Through every buyer, seller and listing, we believe there’s opportunity beyond the transaction.
Step outside the comfort zone: Learnings and challenges
Working in a fast-paced start-up, keeping an open mind and having a high-energy mindset are needed to adapt to new changes, as well as take on challenges whenever necessary. Marketing interns are mainly in charge of developing a campus project, including content writing for Facebook, Instagram, Carousell blog and Dcard online forum, coordinating partnerships in different social channels, etc. in order to motivate more potential users and non-active users to find interests in Carousell. Due to my fan page management experiences in school, I am good at writing articles to attract readers’ attention. Through posts and articles shared on social media, I improved the awareness and impression of Carousell’s brand, enhancing favorability effectively. I am truly proud of devoting myself to things I do well, however, I also encounter challenges in other parts of my job.
Data research and effectiveness evaluation are quite important in the process of the project. We often have to analyze features and results from data, and then provide feedback and insight to modify or strengthen current strategies. As a matter of fact, I lacked the experience to manage or analyze data, so I spend more time learning and dealing with work in this aspect. Fortunately, the mentor and manager in the marketing team kindly taught us details, provided useful advice, and found information that might be needed for us to overcome difficulties. At the same time, interns are encouraged to try new methods and alternatives that influenced the progress of our project. I genuinely appreciated any help I received in Carousell, and these experiences turn into powers that stand by me to navigate in my future career path.
Epilogue
Carousell welcomes people from various backgrounds, with different personalities, interests and dreams. As a team of passionate individuals working together to solve meaningful problems, there is so much more for everyone to discover in a career with Carousell. Carousell stimulates new ideas, knowledge, and thoughts in my existing patterns of behavior and cognition in my internship life. Last but not least, empowered by Carousell, employees have sufficient freedom and autonomy in the work process. Team-onboarding, workshops and a lot of activities are held online and offline for members to connect with each other closely.
When it comes to the final day of my internship life, I just recall the quote ”How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard (Winnie the Pooh).” Until we meet again, Carousell!
【Carousell 旋轉拍賣】初入新創，英文系的行銷小白實習記
早上九點半，我踏出捷運站出口，彼時沿途喧鬧的商店街都還未開張，走入一棟街邊寧靜的商業大樓，電梯帶著我，抵達了工業風的紅色復古辦公室 — 旋轉拍賣台灣研發中心 (TWDC)。「新創是什麼？ 」、「二手拍賣平台是什麼？ 」、「行銷又在做什麼？」，在旋轉拍賣，每個人都可以找到屬於自己的答案。
初印象，初挑戰
畢業前三個月，懷揣著一絲期待與緊張的心情，我來到了旋轉拍賣，沒有華麗氣派的裝潢與充滿距離感的同事，取而代之的是溫馨的暖色調辦公空間，與熱情打招呼的人們。第一天，在換上紅色的旋轉拍賣 T-shirt 後，緊接著的是一連串 Onboarding 行程與新加坡英文會議洗禮，讓還未進入狀況的我一邊忙碌地寫著筆記， 一邊高速運轉腦袋、整理思緒。
CPC、CPR、ER ……各式各樣的英文縮寫與行銷用詞佔據了我的筆記本，大學四年裡已經習慣了在文學作品晦澀繁複的詞藻中細思慢想，過於簡潔的商業溝通方式，讓我一時之間有些難以招架，然而這樣的衝突卻也是我跨出舒適圈後的另一種收穫。適應步調快速的 Start-up 運作模式與生態、調整心態與提升學習的敏銳度，成為我實習生活的第一個挑戰，同時也在我既有的行為與思考模式中注入了新的刺激和改變。
靈感，來自觀察與累積
實習的三個月期間，撰寫社群貼文、論壇與部落格文章是我的例行性工作。在資訊爆炸且變動快速的世代下，人們日常瀏覽社群影音與文章的習慣不變，甚至期待著更多變化、刺激與驚喜，如何在例行性工作中產出多元化內容並扣合品牌形象，且又能引起讀者給予預期內的反映？社群行銷與內容行銷的重要性與影響力又該如何發揮？ 諸如此類在工作中衍生思考的數個疑問，成為了我實習生活初期的第二個挑戰。
翻閱著過往蒐集的熱門文章與創意貼文，觀察時下社群的流行與趨勢，我在日常接觸的媒體與使用的社群平台上，陸續蒐集許多素材與細微的靈感，嘗試在文章中提供實用資訊並輔以有趣的文字、符合語境的圖片，並將之與旋轉拍賣品牌連結，有效地增加了閱聽者的收藏與觀看意願，也得到讀者與主管給予的正面反饋，獲得了來自第一份工作的成就感。我持續將目光所及的資訊與觀察內化，以醞釀下一次的靈感。
日常是變，也是不變
行銷工作中最不乏的就是變化了，文案撰寫的技巧尚有跡可循且能自己斟酌與掌控，但若從自身工作中抽離，添入了他人、環境、時間與種種外在因素後，複雜度與變化性驟然提高。實習生活的第三個挑戰，出現在規劃與執行校園專案的過程中。與不同的合作對象接洽聯絡、發想活動機制、調整及修正計畫、評估成效與提出看法和檢討是專案的主要工作，然而因疫情升溫而取消的種種大型活動，連帶影響了合作對象的時程與參與意願、專案理想執行方式等等。
沒有過多惋惜和躊躇的時間，我與實習同伴又重新尋找與思考新的替代方案，並試圖在變數層出不窮的專案執行過程中，學著適應預期外的變化與訓練解決問題的能力，似乎也逐漸理解「唯一不變的就是變」這句話並不矛盾。
畢業禮物
跨出舒適圈後的生活，當然不全是快樂與喜歡的事，但我最大的幸運，莫過於在實習期間遇見能一起成長與學習的人們，無論是在工作還是職涯探索的過程中，都不吝給予我幫助和鼓勵，告訴我不要害怕犯錯，多嘗試、多表達，有什麼想學的或是想瞭解的都可以盡量問，遇到困難也可以主動求助或詢問，減緩了在工作與成長的過程中所遭遇的挫折與壓力。
扁平化組織讓所有人的想法與付出都得以被重視，在工作上無論意見是否衝突，大家都能保持著開放的心胸互相傾聽與討論，同時亦被賦予極大的工作自由與自主權，讓每個人都能掌控自己的工作方式、時間與地點，即便是實習生也不例外。
放眼望向未來，依舊還有些不確定與焦慮存在，但我卻更加清楚自己喜歡與不喜歡的、擅長與不擅長的事，也明白仍需要努力與進步的不足之處。在旋轉拍賣的實習生活中，我找到了驅動熱情與好奇心的答案，同時也是最珍貴的畢業禮物。
