Caseem Desphy, Strategic Planning Intern at Swift
Portland, OR
I think Swift chose me for this internship because I was semi-experienced in what the internship entailed. In school I was an avid member in our student-run agency that dealt with real clients and real work, which gave me more experience than coming in not knowing anything about advertising or what my job would require of me. So, going the extra step past academics and involving myself into extracurriculars helped me relate to the people who interviewed me, because I’ve faced similar situations or had the same thoughts on topics that they did.
The type of work I did this summer included a variety of different things, from creating briefs, presentations, creating and conducting surveys, researching topics to assist my team, and more. All these projects have been great in enhancing and reshaping my skill set.
The most challenging thing was having confidence in myself. Being around professionals in this field who have extremely diverse backgrounds and pools of knowledge made me need to reassure myself that they chose me for a reason, because I too have something to bring and am capable of doing what is required of me. But that challenge has been overcome thanks to the reassurance of my team here at Swift.
The best thing about my internship was being around the people that I work with and the environment here at Swift has been a key part of my internship. Knowing that everyone here wants you to succeed in whatever project you are working on or task you may have is great because I can come to someone if I have a question or need help, and they are willing to take the time to help me. Also setting up individual times to connect with people beyond the work has been great because not only did I build a stronger connection to people individually, I also got to understand what inspires them to do what they do and learn from that.
The biggest learning I’m taking away from my internship is…I continue to learn daily here at Swift, but the biggest learning that I can take away from this internship is that you are always a student. You have to continually be willing to learn and adjust your thought process across many different accounts to better understand why you are doing what you are going to do, how will you do it, and what can you or someone take from it. In advertising it is a constant sculpting of your craft and it only gets better with time and the willingness to learn, whether that be from the people around you or on your own.
My best advice for future interns is…You may have to make sacrifices in your life, but put yourself in the best position to be successful while staying true to you.
Huge thank you to Caseem and Swift for being part of Intern Fieldnotes, Vol. 1! For more insight and advice from summer interns at agencies all over the country, check out the full series.
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