Murky World of Advertising? Summer Intern From Our New York Office Recounts Her First Experience With The Industry

Behind every agency there is a team of minions, formally known as interns. After reading this Buzzfeed article, I feel like minions are our true spirit creatures. Don’t let the term fool you.

My first day at J. Walter Thompson was a lot like Charlie’s at the Wonka Factory. I tried to keep my composure and steady my hands as I was introduced to my team, which, for the record, is the most inspiring group of women I have been lucky enough to work alongside.

It just so happened that I was first intern on the scene, having packed up and shipped out to the concrete jungle just a few days after my last final exam. I resorted to trial and error on everything from finding food places to figuring out which of the six floors housed IT’s “Wicked Smart Bar.” While I was trying to find my way around, I accidentally entered the men’s bathroom on floor six, but it’s still #toosoon to tell that story.

Working for the Global Communications team, there was never a dull moment. One day I would be researching commercial drones and the next I was writing about Mario Testino’s star-studded career. Getting to sink my teeth into such diverse content made every day a field day.

Enter June, the month of Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity aka four weeks of beautiful chaos that is hard to quantify with words. I survived with the help of coffee, English to French translation and Twitter and spent the month in awe of all of the amazing work and organization that goes into making Cannes a success for everyone involved.

It’s hard to believe that my time here is up and I will sorely miss all of the amazing people I have been lucky enough to work with these past few months. With one more year left at college before I take the ever-murky dive into the real world, this experience has been an amazing glance into the beautifully chaotic industry that is advertising.

— Emily Welch was a summer 2015 intern in the Global Communications team at the J. Walter Thompson New York office.