So … you’re thinking about interning with Intouch. Or, at least, that’s why I initially stumbled upon Intouch’s blog earlier this year. I was hungry for information about a company I had never heard about before but was considering taking an internship with. Now, several months later, I’m so glad I did.
But let’s back up. Regardless of what brought you to this blog post, you’re about to hear all about what Intouch’s remote summer internship program was like from me, Daphne, an intern in Intouch’s editorial department.
As I approached graduation from my college this May, I had been scrambling. I was facing a rather difficult job market, thanks to the pandemic, and finding opportunities was a challenge. Due to a series of fortunate events, however, I was put in contact with an alumna who worked at Intouch. She was the first indicator of what I quickly came to know after starting at Intouch: the people at this company are amazing. From the very first day, which was essentially a long series of orientation Zoom meetings, I could feel an overwhelming positivity emanating from the people on my screen — and as a COVID-19 student, I had had a lot of other Zoom experiences with which I could compare.
“What clients want is people who are excited to work on their business … and I think the team’s enthusiasm really came through.” – John Kenny, SVP, Managing Director, Head of Strategy, Strategic Planning, Intouch Group
It certainly didn’t stop there, though. As an intern at Intouch, there is so much support for you, not only from your designated teammates — I have a manager, a mentor, and an HR business partner with whom I get to meet regularly to make sure things are okay — but even people who aren’t directly responsible for mentoring or teaching me offer to do it all the time. As someone with no prior pharmaceutical industry or agency experience, it is invaluable when others take a few moments to teach me something new or share advice and so many people here are happy to do that.
The other component I have loved about this internship is the amount of real-world experience it gives you. While you have a support system several people deep, Intouch is not afraid to throw you into the thick of things as an intern. From my second week — when I received my first assignment — onward, I have felt like a full-fledged member of the Editorial Department. I have gotten to learn firsthand how the editorial team contributes to the One Intouch process and have been able to work on a variety of pieces across several different brands.
On top of the assignments I get to do for my department, I also get to work on an intern-specific project with a wonderful team of other interns from other departments. While the project has served as a beneficial learning experience as we’ve had to mimic Intouch’s project process from start to end on our own, I’ve also enjoyed the connections I’ve gotten to make with other interns as a result. In a remote work environment, it’s difficult to socialize. You don’t have trips to the kitchen or bathroom during which you might stop to chat with someone for a few minutes. But working closely with a small group of other interns allowed us to get to know one another well, and it was nice to be able to touch base with others in the same boat as you, whether it was to ask your “stupid” questions or send each other GIFs in the middle of a long week.
All in all, this remote internship was more than I could have ever asked for. While I have no way of knowing whether future internship programs at Intouch will be remote, I couldn’t more highly recommend this experience. And if you’re in a position where you’re considering an in-person internship, I feel pretty confident that the experience would be similarly fantastic.
I’ll part with some words of advice. If you’re on the fence about whether you’d like to accept an opportunity with Intouch, I’d first like to say: don’t let inexperience with the industry dissuade you. I had never worked in pharma before and was nervous that I wouldn’t be good at it, or even that I might find it boring. But personally, I have found my job this summer to be exceptionally intellectually stimulating. Often, I look at my clock and it’s 9 a.m., and when I look again it’s 4 p.m. Days pass quickly here, and there’s always something for you to do. If you’re the type of person who likes working in a fast-paced environment and doesn’t mind working under a bit of pressure at times (but not the type of pressure that is unduly overwhelming), I think you’d like it here a lot. Plus, while the field of advertising is exceedingly wide, I think there is something special about working to ensure that the information that healthcare professionals and patients receive is accurate and clear, and I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to do work that I find fulfilling.
Finally, if you’re someone who has already accepted your internship at Intouch, congratulations! You’re about to learn so much! I encourage you to use your time at Intouch to discover as much as you can about the different facets of agency life, specifically in the pharmaceutical field. Use your spare time to arrange meetings with people in different departments. Not only will you learn more about how Intouch functions, but if you take the time to learn how other departments work and how you can best support them during the course of your own work, you’ll be a better colleague, no matter where you ultimately end up!
Interested in joining a company that takes interns and internships seriously? Check out our open positions today!