It’s been a bit since my last post, and I apologize - but it’s for good reason…
I have been working full time with a Philly Tech Startup. We are creating an online marketplace for high performing freelancers to easily find serious employers with cool projects. We specialize in tech jobs at the moment, including: Creative services, programmers, writers/editors, marketing, SEO, etc. If any freelancers are browsing this blog and have the bandwidth for some high paying jobs I suggest taking a peek of the website at Anthillz.com - We offer Free 30 Day Signup…
Anyway - enough plugging, I wanted to try and give all you job seekers out there a peek at what a day in the life is like for a Marketing Intern with a tech startup. I had applied to a ton of companies at the Spring Connection and Entrepreneurship Job Fair and got 3 serious responses. I then eventually narrowed it down to the startup I currently work for. I just wanted to open with that and say that working with a startup is an amazing experience, and I’m infinitely better off this summer then I would have been had I gotten the corporate job.
Today - A day on the job with a Tech Startup
9 AM - Woke up at my off-campus “dorm-room” at Temple University. (Note this is during the summer)
10 AM - Checking email, reading blogs about Freelancing, reading forums about Freelancing (We call this Market Research)
11 AM - Lunch/Calculus Homework (I take Calculus for Business in Summer I, with Kapanjie -he rocks)
12 PM - Briefly play around with a programming language I’m trying to learn (Ruby On Rails) then head out to the Subway to make the journey to the office.
1 PM - After taking Subway to cityhall, then switching to Blueline, and then walking a few blocks to the UPenn Science Center I am finally at the office. I make a stop at the coffee machine on my floor before making my way to my desk.
2 PM - By 2 some of the others have arrived and I’m going through my days goals with my boss, the CEO of our startup. I start during my daily routines like keeping a pulse on Freelance Blogs and Forums. I then do maintenance on our company blog like writing articles and figuring out traffic patterns and then do some promotional work to get more visitors.
3 PM - After doing my daily routines, I’m now working on today specific stuff like perfecting copy on our website/email/miscellaneous marketing materials. As well as setting up a new round of Adwords testing in which I’m going to be testing specific keywords for SEO reasons.
4 PM - I’m reading an article my boss sent me which is from a venture capitalists blog. It’s pretty good. Then I head off with all the companies working in our group space (science center is an incubator for small businesses so it houses about a dozen of us startups on the floor I work on) to go to a Fishbowl - where one of the companies tells us some specific issues he’s dealing with in his company and we all discuss and try to help with whatever is needed.
5 PM - The Fishbowl goes on a bit and we’re helping the company figure out the best distribution scheme and pricing strategy for his product. It’s pretty interesting to hear all the entrepreneurs input on his problem, I even chimed in a bit.
6 PM - We end the Fishbowl and go to casual-dinner in the conference room for tonight’s speaker who was John A. Loftus who is an accomplished serial entrepeneur who switched to the darkside and is a venture capitalist currently.
7 PM - The lecture goes on, it’s a very good speech where Mr. Loftus discusses the 5 M’s he looks for in companies to fund: Market, Management, Model, Momentum, Moat.
8 PM - Lecture ends and the team gets together for an overview of our immediate plans, and what to do for tomorrow (because tomorrow I’m not going into office, I’m just working remotely from the dorm room and doing a conference call after my calculus exam tomorrow night)
9 PM - I’m about halfway home by 9. Waiting for the Subway at City Hall which is taking longer than normal…
10 PM - I’m home by 9:30, and writing this article by 10… Voila
It goes without saying… I love my job.
Jena joined the CSPD as the Assistant Director of Recruitment and Professional Development with over 4 years career services experience including a background in corporate recruiting. She is excited to work collaboratively with the Fox School students regarding career search strategies and hopes students gain some additional insight into the job search through “Opportunity Knocks”.
Kel is an undergrad majoring in Management Information Systems, graduating in 2010. He is very involved and hopes to share some of his experiences with other students. His goal is to motivate others to do their best. He believes that with a little inspiration you can get where you want to be. Through this blog, he wants to show you that opportunities are out there.