Introduction
The current report will be focused on the reflection of my internship as Marketing Manager in Knowledge Nest situated within the domain of the UK. Gibbs reflective cycle will be used to reflect on my internship environment along with my experiences within the internship program.
Knowledge that has been gained by me and the way it has helped in my workplace will be evaluated along with my rules and actions within the internship program. Apart from that, transferable skills that have been developed within me in this program along with the future needs of the organisation will also be analysed. Lastly, an action plan for my future development will be proposed along with a detailed conclusion of my overall experience within the internship program.
Discussion
Reflects assists in the process of learning and development. Gibbs reflective cycle is a developed framework used commonly for the purpose of reflection. This framework consists of six stages such as description of the event; feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan (Adeani et al. 2020). This framework helps in depth analysis of a matter and assists in the development of an action plan that tends to improve future skills of employability. This report has been structured accordingly for evaluating my internship program and other areas related to it.
Figure 1: Gibbs reflective cycle
(Source: Adeani et al. 2020)
Description
In consideration to the first stage of Gibbs reflective cycle it can be described that, I was offered the role of Marketing Manager in Knowledge Nest Ltd. in the form of an internship placement. This was an unpaid internship role and I was expected to report to the office on 24 January 2022 at 9:00 a.m. I was entitled to lunch breaks along with short breaks during the placement and 28 hours a week was allocated for my internship placement in this stated organisation. My working hours were from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and it continued till 24th November 2022. In the opinion of Oner (2020), the environment within an internship program is considered to be highly crucial as it helps in the learning and development process. Considering this notion, I can say that my internship environment was quite professional with a friendly environment. This provided me with high ease to learn the role and does of a marketing manager within an organisation.
Apart from that, the policies of the companies were also highly flexible that helped me to adapt to the situation easily with no certain restrictions. As mentioned by Kurniawaty et al. (2019), policies within an organisation play a crucial role in employee retention and in the creation of a proper workplace environment. For instance, in the current internship program I was not restricted with any termination clause as I was allowed to resign from my internship position at any time prior to 7 days of notice period while the company also held the rights of terminating me from my internship program at any time. In addition to this, I was also provided with the access to confidential information of business and trade secrets of the company that reflects the reliable and trustworthy nature of the internship environment. Apart from that, the company was also against the discrimination along with harassment aspects, which indicates a low conflicting internship environment. Henceforth, the nature of the internship environment is proper with proper rights in respect to the employees.
Feelings
In consideration of the second stage of Gibbs reflective cycle it can be stated that I feel that certain knowledge that have been developed by me in my educational career have helped me in my workplace or in my current internship program. For instance, I feel that the basic knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite that has been developed within me in my educational career has helped me in my current internship program. It is because, as per the job requirements, basic knowledge in terms of Adobe Creative Suite in both Premier and Photoshop is considered to be beneficial. Nonetheless, strong communication skills are another strength factor in me. Coffelt et al. (2022) opined that strong skills of communication are required in any field of business in order to collaborate and work with other team members. Most importantly, it is required within an internship programme in order to communicate the issues faced in the process of learning and have proper interaction with the trainer within the internship program. Apart from that, I was also equipped with the skills of using Microsoft 365 tools and I feel this was also beneficial in my workforce to execute the duties of marketing manager.
Earlier in my educational career, I was allocated with different projects and processed the habit of submitting it on deadline by meeting specific variables. I feel that this skill was also used properly in my current workers as I was able to understand different principles of project management and was capable of submitting the work within the provided deadline along with meeting specific deliverance required within the project. Being a student of business management background I gained several knowledge’s regarding digital marketing that I feel to be beneficial in my current workforce. It is because I was able to understand different marketing styles of the company and execute my allocated responsibilities in terms of digital marketing, social media, online campaigns and others. Most importantly, I also gained the skills of Power BI tools and Google Analytics, which I feel, has helped me in the marketing research within the domain of the Knowledge Nest. Henceforth, I feel that different knowledge that has been gained by me has been helpful in my current workforce or in my internship program.
Evaluation
Based on the third stage of Gibbs reflective cycle it can be evaluated that different roles and responsibilities were allocated to me in my internship program. In my internship program in Knowledge Nest as a marketing intern, I was provided with daily responsibilities of evaluating analytics along with the creation of insight in terms of user behaviour for identifying different opportunities to improve the areas of digital content. In addition to this, I was also provided with the responsibilities of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) audits and in turn provided recommendations regarding different actions that can be used for boosting the performance of the company digitally and improve return based on the contents. I also played the role of implementing templates for branded marketing in terms of external and internal campaigns. According to Kumar and Mittal (2020), campaigns within a company are highly crucial as it represents the brand in front of the customers.
Most importantly, it is also being used for creating awareness regarding the brand that further can be effective in increasing the sales and revenue margin of the company. As it was an important part within the organisation, therefore I played the role of marketing intern and implemented creative elements that further developed the ability of working within the guidelines of the brand. Teletov et al. (2019) stated that creativity is effective in attracting the attention of the customers within the market that in turn benefits the company for a long term. As I was able to promote creativity within the brand therefore I was also provided with the responsibilities of developing pipelines for the external and internal new stories in order to promote innovation within the company along with research updates to the targeted audiences. Another important responsibility of mine in this internship program reflects the management of Digital Media Library.
In the opinion of Bulturbayevich (2021), management of Digital Media Library reflects the notion of organising, tagging and reviewing visual story assets as a part of the planning of a digital company along with creation of contents. Concerning this notion, I also used to play the role of supporting promotional activities within the company for the Innovation Network. Even, I also played the role of supporting growth manager for scheduling social media post strategy and communicating with different audiences. I was also provided with the responsibilities of managing emails, calendars and developed proper strategy of email marketing. I also played the role of supporting different teams for functioning in terms of content creation, social and emails. During my internship program, I also worked with external or in house creative agencies for designing infographics related to digital marketing while I also organised and attended different exhibitions, reception, seminars and conferences. One of my crucial responsibilities in this internship programme was to constantly check Google Analytics and produce reports while managing and updating calendars within the company.
Analysis
Based on the fourth stage of Gibbs reflective cycle it can be analysed that my role and responsibilities as a marketing manager in turn within the domain of Knowledge Nest Ltd was mainly related to the management of marketing with the help of Google Analytic tools and management and creation of digital marketing through social media, emails and other content. In consideration to the current position of the company, it can be analysed that in the future the company requires proper instances of innovation to develop. For instance, innovative ideas for solving the challenges along with identifying opportunities within the market are required for the company for developing its future needs (Vermicelli et al. 2021). Along with it, the company also needs to develop cross border collaboration along with cross-cultural instances to implement a diverse range of people within the organisation that can create diversified perspectives, which will be leading to innovation within the domain. As the company is highly focused in management of social media and creating awareness among the customers through digital marketing and social media, therefore, the company requires proper social media management experts along with marketing manager to develop its future competencies.
Apart from that, several transferable skills have also been developed within me through this internship program. One of the most important transferable skills that have been developed by me is the skill of communication. Is because considering the role of marketing intern within the company, non-digital and digital communication methods are involved within the process. According to Jhaiyanuntana and Nomnian (2020), an intern needs to communicate with its colleagues effectively for articulating ideas and gaining different knowledge related to the concerned matter. Most importantly, communication also helps in building proper relationships with others that in turn helps in team working skills. Moreover, I have also learned to centre the positive focus on achieving the outcome and taking different initiative in terms of adding values to the area of work. Crawford and Fink (2019) highlighted that self-starting skills are highly important for finding one direction in the work and getting involved in it, which increases the chances of deriving an appropriate outcome. Moreover, taking initiative regarding a project helps in executing it with proper value that seems to be beneficial for an organisation.
Apart from that, innovation is another skill that is developed by me in this internship and it is also transferable to others in my future workplace. Bedir (2019) mentioned that innovation skill leads to the area of creative thinking that in turn helps in meeting different challenges and gaining suggestions for improving work effectively. Adding to this, skills of innovation also helps in implementing and developing innovative ideas and approaches for gaining others attention along with capturing the attention of the customers within the market. Lastly, I have also developed the skills of problem solving and empathy in this internship program. Sergey et al. (2019) opined that skills of empathy and problem solving help in recognising potential issues in the workplace and solving them properly. It also reflects the notion of developing effective alternatives for an issue that also helps in solving internal and external issues within the company. In consideration to the current internship position in Knowledge Nest, I was trained to recognise alongside address potential issues that are being rising within the projects of the company.
Apart from that, I was also provided with the responsibilities of supporting colleagues and providing them with alternative options related to external and internal digital marketing. However, despite the training that has been provided to me in my internship program and the transferable skills that have been developed within me, I still lack in certain areas that need to be developed for my future development.
For instance, the skills of empathy and problem solving needs to be developed more effectively within me for tackling critical situations within the workplace. It is because improper skills of problem solving also raise conflicts within the workplace that require conflict management skills which also needs to be developed within me (Gino, 2019).
Apart from that, collaboration along with listening skills and decision making also needs to be developed in order to work with different team members and build proper relationships with them for executing targeted goals within an organisation. Henceforth, the stated skills can be effective in developing my future competencies for securing proper employability.
Actions for future development
| Objectives | Actions | Timeframe |
| To improve the skills of decision making | ● To develop the skills of active listening
● Involve team members in the process of making decisions |
2 months |
| To improve the skills of collaboration | ● Proper communication with every members
● Share inputs and thoughts ● Proper building of relationship with others |
2 months |
| To develop the skills of problem solving and conflict management | ● Listening to both the parties involved within the conflict
● Analyse the problem separately ● Separate both the person from each other ● Finding a solution that can interest both the parties |
1 months |
| To develop the skills of active listening | ● Meditation on a daily basis
● Paying attention and improving the level of focus ● Listening to others without interfering them |
3 months |
Table 1: Action plan for future development
Conclusion
In consideration to the fifth stage of Gibbs reflective cycle it can be concluded that overall experience in my internship programme was quite good. However, it was a useful learning experience as I gained the knowledge of communication along with empathy, problem solving, decision-making and self-starting skills. Nevertheless, conflicts with some of my colleagues have been a negative experience for me that can be resolved in my future employability through the development of conflict management and problem solving skills accordingly. In addition to this, I also developed the skills of innovation that have also been derived by me in this internship program that may be helpful for me in my future career. Specifically, I have acquired skills of innovation communication along with self-starting and planning skills and I could move forward in this area, as it will help me in creative thinking and solving different areas in my future employability. However, if a similar conflict arises in the future then I would prefer to step aside from this situation and think calmly and then communicate with them properly in order to solve the situation. However, I will practise the skills that have gained from this internship programme in order to carry forward the knowledge in my future career.
Reference list
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