The Intern Diaries: Marketing Intern Adam

CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT YOURSELF?

Hi, I’m Adam and for the last 6 months, I have been working at SALTO KS as a Marketing Intern. I’m 21 years old and I’m Egyptian-Austrian. I grew up in the Middle East, specifically Kuwait and Egypt. After graduating from high school 4 years ago, I made the thrilling decision to move to The Netherlands at a pretty young age. I started my bachelor program at The Haque University, studying International Business and Management. Throughout my years at university, I spent a lot of time working on marketing plans and entry strategies for both fictional and realistic scenarios. Eventually, I realized that Marketing was the career direction I wanted to pursue. Fast forward to my 7th semester and here I am, doing my marketing internship at SALTO KS!

HOW DID YOU END UP AT CLAY?

After completing my minor in Branding and Consumer Trends in Marketing, I knew I wanted to do an internship in a similar field. I started looking for internships while I was doing my Erasmus exchange semester in Vienna. I learned about SALTO KS through a friend who noticed the internship vacancy and told me about it. After looking through the SALTO KS website, I immediately decided to apply. The main thing that captured my interest in SALTO KS was the company culture. After a few rounds of interviews, I was thrilled to find out I had received the offer to work here!

“To be honest, the thing I enjoyed most about my internship was the challenge of working in this professional environment. A lot of internships consist of boring tasks that won't ignite motivation. Mine was the opposite.”

- Adam Aziz

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE COMPANY CULTURE?

As I said earlier, the company culture here is what mainly attracted me to SALTO KS. Because of our small size of about 35 Bricks, it feels like working with all of your closest friends. Everyone is very friendly, social, and interactive. On my first day here, everyone took the time to stop by my desk and introduce themselves. What I also really like is that the office is designed to be an entertaining workspace. We have a pool table, foosball table, and table tennis! During lunch, you’ll find me at the pool table on a daily basis. Fridays are probably the nicest at the office. When it hits about 5:00 pm, the laptops switch off, the drinks come out of the fridge, and everyone gathers around for some games. Another thing I really like about the SALTO KS company culture is that we have excursions on a monthly basis. This usually consists of barbecues, dinners, or team-building activities such as rock-climbing.

WHAT DID YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB?

To be honest, the thing I enjoyed most about my job was the challenge of working in this professional environment. A lot of internships consist of boring work that nobody wants to do (making coffee for everyone, make copies, do groceries). Mine was the opposite: As an intern, I felt valued at SALTO KS. I was at the centre of a global sales process, a very critical aspect of my work. Also, I really enjoyed the flexibility of my job, specifically the ability to work from home. I live in Den Haag and it takes me over an hour to commute to the office every day, so having the ability to sometimes work from home is really nice.

WHAT WAS YOUR BEST OR WORST DAY ON THE JOB?

My best day on the job was when I received an offer to continue working at SALTO KS part-time after my internship. I remember during the interviews 6 months ago, I was told that getting hired after the internship is a possibility depending on performance, so I had that set as my main goal all along. After receiving the offer, it felt great knowing that I was doing my job well enough for my colleagues to want and need me to stay.

IF YOU HAD A FRIEND LOOKING FOR A JOB, WOULD YOU RECOMMEND US?

I definitely would recommend working at SALTO KS to a friend. In fact, I already have a few times. Fellow students from my university are also looking for internships and I’ve been referring them to apply here. It’s a great opportunity for anyone.

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE THE NEXT STEP IS IN YOUR PROFESSION, AND HOW DID SALTO KS HELP YOU GET THERE?

As I mentioned earlier, my next step is to continue being a part of the SALTO KS marketing team and stay on as a part-time marketing assistant. However, I’ll also be returning to university for my final year and working on my thesis. What I’m looking forward to is that I’ll likely have my thesis sponsored by SALTO KS. Not only do I get to officially work here while studying, but I’ll also have the chance to conduct an entire thesis report about an effective business scenario for SALTO KS.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE THE NEXT INTERN AT SALTO KS?

You should expect to work in a rapidly growing and innovative environment. If you’re taking on an internship that isn’t technical (marketing or sales), it would definitely help to have some technical knowledge, as a big part of the SALTO KS team consists of developers.

Adam, thank you for all of your hard work. We are proud and happy to have you as a team member a little bit longer!

Read more on being an intern at SALTO KS!