Looking back…
The buzz was building within the Diageo office foyer as 20 new faces arrived one by one, to get their shot at being one of the lucky top 4 young guns to be hired in the 2nd year of The Nest internship program. Nervous energy filled the air, as they were greeted with excitement by the Leo Burnett and Diageo recruitment team. Quite the surreal experience, as for me, I couldn’t help but reflect on being in that same position just a year ago. I completed The Nest myself last year and am now helping run the program for 2014.
This time one year ago, I was staring down the barrel of the unknown – the world of advertising and marketing. A daunting prospect - what was it really like in the industry and more importantly how on earth was I going to get a foot in the door? A year later I now find myself writing this blog for AdNews on my own experience. A lot can happen in a year and I owe it to The Nest. Over the coming weeks, you’ll be introduced to this year’s ‘Top 4 Nesters’, who will be taking over this blog, to bring to you, their view from inside The Nest.
Introducing our ‘Nesters’ for 2014…
We welcome our talented ‘Nesters’ for 2014; Stephanie Cook, Andrew Dengate, Alex Moddel and Justine Simmonds. I can say with certainty that they are about to embark on a most exciting and challenging 12 weeks in their career development. It’s no ordinary internship. Okay, so it’s paid (that’s pretty extraordinary in itself) but the real extraordinariness comes from the opportunities that are afforded to a ‘Nester’.
The program is tailored to offer experience across each department within Leo Burnett and to dip your feet into multiple areas of Diageo’s marketing departments. You are thrown in the deep end, no doubt the quickest way to learn, contributing to real projects, writing briefs, and doing research to help contribute to work in progress marketing strategy. It’s even possible that you’ll work on the same project from both sides and help bring it to life. On top of gaining all this rewarding experience, the perks are unparalleled. Diageo’s impressive brand portfolio means there’s always exciting events happening that you’ll get to help organise and even attend if you play your cards right.
As with any opportunity though, you will only get out of it what you put in. While I still have a lot to learn, I hope to share the lessons I’ve learned, having been through the program, with this new wave of ‘Nesters’ (and any intern for that matter).
Being memorable…
It’s simple really and something I’ll never forget being told by Pete Bosilkovski, managing director of Leo Burnett] in my first week at Leos – “be memorable”. The key? Be present; take up every invitation to get involved and put 150% in to every task you touch. You’ll be indispensable and they’ll never want you to leave.
A lot can happen in 12 months…
One year later, I’m still here at Leos on the Diageo team. A dream opportunity. This partnership between Leos and Diageo is something special, and I feel extremely privileged to have experienced both sides of this unique relationship. Working closely with the Bundaberg team, I continue to learn every day from the best of the best at both Leo’s and Diageo, gaining experience in all things social, ATL & BTL activities, PR (the list goes on).
At the end of their 12 weeks in The Nest, on top of all the experience they will gain, these ‘Nesters’ will be able to answer the fundamental question that people looking to get into the industry often wrestle with – should I go client or agency side? Two birds, one internship. (Okay so that’s why I’m not a copywriter, but that pretty much sums it up!).
Now a true part of the team here at Leos I can officially say I’ve ‘Nested’ in. I’ve now got my foot in the door - who knows where these ‘Nesters’ will be this time next year!
Liz Maunsell
Account Coordinator
Leo Burnett Sydney