Digital Marketing: Launch Student Stories
Discover first-hand experiences of past Launch students in the digital marketing track.
*If you aren’t familiar with our Launch internship program, visit joinforge.co/launch. If you’d like to apply to the digital marketing track for the Summer of 2022, submit your resume at https://launchapply2022.paperform.co/ by March 30th, 2022.*
Resumes and Prep
As a third year at UVA, I felt completely lost in the professional world. It felt like everyone around me had already perfected their resumes and had several elite summer internships, and I thought I was too behind to catch up. Luckily, I found Launch. My resume had barely been updated since high school and the only jobs I’d had were things like lifeguarding and administrative work, but nothing related to my long term career goals. As soon as I was accepted to Launch, their team helped me understand how to promote myself and my skills, and they made me realize that I wasn’t nearly as behind as I thought I was- I just needed to learn how to market myself. The Forge team worked with me to draft and redraft my resume until it was perfect, and then walked me through the entire interview process and helped me practice different interview skills, including several mock interviews with Forge staff. By the end of the prep process, I felt so confident going into interviews and was able to quickly nail down my summer internship!
— Eliza Blackstone, Launch ‘21, Forge Marketing Director
Eliza worked at Compare.com in the summer of 2021.
The Interview/Matching Process
The interview process for Launch was efficient and simple to set up. I always felt like I knew what was going on. There was quick communication regarding whether or not a company wanted to interview me, and I felt very prepared going into these interviews based on the training we received. Not only this, but regardless of if I got the job or not, each interview was a learning process and gave me new skills each round.
If you don’t get matched right away, don’t give up! The perfect company will come along for you. Take the matching and interview process seriously, so you get the most out of your experience.
— Grace Ann Brown, Launch ’21, Forge Marketing Manager
Grace Ann worked at Parachute360 in the summer of 2021.
Training Process
The three weeks of training during Launch was probably my favorite part of the entire process. I was in the digital marketing track, and learned so many diverse skills including how to run marketing campaigns, data analysis, and content creation. Each day we spent some time learning lecture-style, but I loved that so much time was spent putting the lessons we learned into practice with both shorter and longer projects. I feel like Launch prepared me to take on any sort of digital marketing assignments in the real world because even if there was a specific platform or software that I did not know, I became confident in my ability to quickly become proficient with previously unfamiliar skills.
The training process wasn’t just extremely informative; it was also a lot of fun. The instructors really knew what they were talking about, and were happy to answer any questions students had. I felt so supported the entire time, and by the end felt more than ready to take on my internship.
— Katie Turk, Launch ’21, Forge Marketing Coordinator
Katie worked at Pearl Certification in the summer of 2021.
First Day at Your Internship
In the summer of 2021, I interned in-person for Silverchair in Charlottesville, VA. My first day included an office tour, meeting all the employees on my floor, lunch with my new boss, and a few welcome gifts! Despite my nerves heading into the office, I had such a positive experience on my first day. Everyone was extremely welcoming and expressed their willingness to help and teach me throughout my internship. The first few days of your internship are the perfect time to get to know your colleagues, figure out a routine for yourself, and familiarize yourself with the office and even the city, if it’s new to you.
While the first day can be nerve wracking, our Launch company partners all want to make their interns feel as comfortable and prepared as possible! So, the first day, or few days, is usually filled with onboarding tasks and meeting the people you’ll be working with for the summer. When heading into your first day, keep in mind that everyone is there to help you succeed and know that everything you learned in training has prepared you for the rest of the summer!
— Mary Larkin Douthitt, Launch ‘21, Forge Marketing Director
Mary Larkin worked at Silverchair in the summer of 2021.
Advice for Future Students
My advice for future Launch students is to really take full advantage of the 3-week training bootcamp and put in a lot of effort. I learned so many different skills during training that I still use, and I even still refer back to the slide decks from training sometimes. The instructor and TAs have so many unique perspectives and skills to share, and I learned a lot just talking to them during training days. You get out the amount of value that you put into training, so really lean into the projects and take full advantage of the time you have.
Another piece of advice I have is to not be afraid to ask questions during your internship, and treat your supervisors and other interns as resources to continue your education. It is such a cool opportunity to get professional experience at jobs that really value their interns, so definitely try to make relationships with the people you work with so that you can learn as much as possible!
— Helen Bechler, Launch ‘21, Forge Marketing Manager
Helen worked at Capitol Hill Group in the summer of 2021.
If you have any further questions about the digital marketing track of Launch, Launch in general, or even just about Forge, do not hesitate to visit our website! Launch is a program that many people find value in, whether it be to learn new skills, get a summer internship, or both. If you’re an upcoming Launch student for the summer of 2022, or are thinking about applying next year, we hope you found this article helpful, and feel free to reach out with any questions you may have.
