Erica - Taiwan

My name is Erica, from Taiwan. My major is human resources management. I can’t image that I am writing the intern blog. It seems that I just came here to have an interview. I still can remember the very first time I arrived here. The people here are really nice. After talking to Diane, I am sure that I want to try and have different experiences here. Luckily, I got this offer.

The first week was really challenging. Diane gave me a task that I have to do the secondary research. In order to help our clients to figure the potential market, I had to collect the quantitative and qualitative data. For me, this task was very exciting because I‘ve never done this before and it was not an easy job. However, I found something interesting in this job. While I was searching the quantitative data in the statistical database, I tried to contact the city council to help me to get the data. To be honest, I didn’t think that they would share the data with me, but I still want to try. Surprisingly, they give me the information which is exactly I need! After finishing this stage, the marketing team incorporate all of the data into marketing plan for the clients. I got the report as well. Being one part of this plan was very fulfilling and satisfying to me.

The following days, Diane gave me another challenging job which is about the strategy. I used academic models (example: Jay barney-competitive advantages, Porter- five forces analysis,…) to interpret data, and incorporate into Marketing Mechanics marketing strategy. I can’t believe that Diane believed in me that I can do these jobs.(because I can’t believe that I can finish these!!!!) I am so appreciative that I got this chance.

As an intern of Marketing Mechanics, I can try everything new and they will encourage you to achieve the goal! I really enjoyed this research job. Although I am not major in marketing, during these days I have learned a lot of new things which are very helpful for me!

Time went so fast, I wish I could stay longer because everything here is so amazing! I want to thank Diane she sets a wonderful sample for me. I can see that she is not only the owner of this team, but also a soul of Marketing Mechanics. Thank you for all the people in Marketing Mechanics. Thank you, Andrew, Britt, Bonnie, Daniel, Adam, David, Ivy and Kelvin (and William)!!!! I will remember every happy and funny moment we had experienced together. My 2016 is so incredible because of Marketing Mechanics!!! 

Kelvin Yap - Indonesia

The internship that I had in Marketing Mechanics has been very insightful and overall a valuable experience.

I'm an Indonesian IT graduate from the University of Technology Sydney. The three months I spent with Marketing Mechanics flew by fast, but I'm glad I chose this company for my internship. I got to practice my skills in a professional environment, get a better understanding on the business side of things and learn some marketing.

The Marketing Mechanics team consisted of very helpful and unique people. It was a small team, but it was a very capable and hardworking team. They also have a great sense of humour!

Diane and the crew gave ample opportunities for the interns to experience new things while providing solid feedbacks all the time. Even as an intern, I felt there was a lot of trust and I felt included as part of the team.

Going through the Christmas rush was an interesting experience. The team was always on high gear and cranked up a lot of work week after week. I was also very lucky to experience Christmas celebrations with the team (great cruise, kris kringle and fun time decorating the office).

Big shout-out to Di, Bonnie, Andrew, Britt and Dan, also Will, Adam, David and Ivy for making the internship worthwhile. I also got to know the other interns Peter and Erica - both great people and we exchanged many stories during our internship.

I wish you all Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Best of luck,

Kelvin

Louise, Kent - UK

It is incredible to think my time at Marketing Mechanics is already over. It seems like only yesterday that I was reading the other intern blogs to see what I was getting myself into, and now I’m writing my own! To any new interns reading these blogs and thinking it sounds too good to be true, it’s not! The team really are as welcoming and supportive as they sound and my time there was invaluable.

I am an English Literature and Business student from the UK, hoping to pursue a career in marketing. I arrived at Marketing Mechanics with very little experience of the business world and even less of Australia, but the team very quickly put me at ease and helped me grow in confidence and ability. The team was incredibly supportive and really encouraged me to experiment with my content marketing skills, something I hope to pursue in the future; while Britt taught me the ways of Australia (and New Zealand), with their abbreviations, “deadly” ticks and awesome burger joints. In all honesty, Marketing Mechanics is just one big family, with Diane nurturing us all with her brilliant advice and contagious laugh.

During my time there I was exposed to many different aspects of marketing, gaining particularly good experience with social media schedules, marketing plans, media buying and customer interactions. The diversity of clients kept me challenged, making the work so much more dynamic and interesting.

So one last massive THANK YOU to everyone there, I hope to see you all again soon.

Much love, Louise xox
 

Vicky Jahns, Germany

It’s always hard to say goodbye. Goodbye means an end and I don’t want my time at Marketing Mechanics to end…. Six months ago I started my internship here. It was easy to settle in. Everybody was so kind and friendly so after one month I became an integrated part of the team.  I started to get a lot of responsibility and my own projects. I learned to create comprehensive marketing plans, got insights in film and video production and had my own content marketing projects. I’m so happy that I’ve had a boss like Di. She gave me advice, not only regarding work, she motivated and encouraged me, she gave me power when I had bad days and she took care of me. In a foreign country where you don’t know anybody and anything, a person like Di is worth a mint.

I never really felt like an intern, everybody treated me like an equal part of the staff. My workmates became my friends. We shared all our stories, pains and secrets with each other. And we had so much fun together… I will never forget these little breaks. I loved to be in charge of the music and of the aircon (sometimes, thanks Dan haha). I loved our parties and cakes on Friday. I loved that everybody just wanted to give me nice tasks and felt bad when it was not that nice (You felt bad, right Andrew?! ;) ).

Right now, as I’m writing this I remember all the nice memories that I will never forget. I will take them with me to Berlin. Thanks for making my time here so special and unforgettable! Di, Britt, Andrew, Matt,  Daniel, David, Manel and Bonnie – you guys are amazing!! I will miss you so much.

So it’s a goodbye for now but I’m pretty sure that we’ll see each other very soon again!

xxx Vicky

Kaylee Leemhuis

Hi,
My whole big Australia adventure comes to an end, I’m Kaylee, a Dutch girl, that made part as an intern by Marketing Mechanics. Today is my last day and I’ve done my intern for almost 5 months, but it didn’t even feel that long. The things i created were very different, from logo's 'till packaging. Your never doing the same job, maybe one job takes a little bit more time. I used the same programs as home, the Adobe CS6 packaging (illustrator, indesign, photoshop, etc). I’ve joined the different way from work and behind all the hard work, the lovely employees ‘colleagues’ are so nice and funny. I’ve learned a lot and I’m really thankful for everything. Diane, Bonnie, Ayeisha, Annemarije, Daniel, Adam, David and other interns, I’m glad that i’ve met you all! Keep up the good work, i’ll miss you guys.

Thank you all, it’s time to go home..

Cheers,
Kaylee

We'll miss you Anne!

Thru this blog I'd like to thank Bonnie Senior, Diane Costa and Sandy Leong for the amazing time I had. I have learned allot, actually more than I could ever imagine learning from an internship. Marketing Mechanics has given me all the opportunities to learn what I want and has trusted me in the ideas and things I have done for the company.

Becuase of this internship I really found out that I want to run my own business. I learned how to work together with other people, and taking care of projects, working with real deadlines and challenges to improve myself.

The last five months were the most exciting, most instructive and most fun months of my life and I really hope to return some day to Australia and hopefully with a good running business!

I can recommend an adventure like this to everybody and I am going to miss the team!

Anne, Nederlands. Dec 2009

Jaap from the Nederlands - Graphic designer

Jaap looking like a young punk Rod steward at Sydneys famous Gay & Lesbian MardiGras!

After the first day of his internship, Jaap already thought he was the boss :)

Today is my last full day in Australia (for the moment), and I’m having a lot of mixed emotions. I’m really happy I can go back to the Netherlands and see my friends, family and girlfriend again but on the other side I’m really sad I have to say goodbye to everybody here, however, I wouldn’t feel this way if the past six months would not have been as good as they where.

Like fish and chips or… peas and carrots, or………… Friday night and football, some things just go well together, and I felt like that with Marketing Mechanics. It all worked very well and I learned so much, and not just about design. I just couldn’t have asked for a better company.

I’m very grateful for the freedom and influence Bonnie and Diane gave me, in order to make my work a lot more pleasant, and the end result to be good. Brainstorming with Diane was great and Bonnie’s critical eye, however sometimes a little bit frustrating, especially when you think you’re done, improved the end result many many times and I learned a lot from that ;-)

Many thanks to Sandy as well, traveling alone to Australia and a city as big as Sydney can be intimidating so having such a friendly colleague is really a big relief ;-)

Aaron, Asa, Jurjen and Silke completed the team and I had a great time with everybody. Thanks heaps guys.

I don’t know when I will return but I’ll definitely come back to Australia, because the last half year was just amazing. Will it be as tourist or as a employee? Time will tell ;-)

Thanks all, and we’ll stay in touch.

Jaap

Aaron from the UK and Asa from Sweden

diane

From left
Jurjen, bon, Jaap, diane, Aaron
Asa and Sandy
A good aussie Lunch!!! Fish & Chips. MMMmm

Aaron and Asa

A Note From Aaron......

Having managed to navigate my way from the UK via the US, Fiji and New Zealand I arrived into the land of opportunity that is Australia, determined to start my career.

Diane and Bonnie gave me that opportunity to begin my marketing career with the innovative and charismatic marketing and advertising agency that is Marketing Mechanics!

Under the careful mentoring of Di, Bonnie and the watchful eye of Sandy, (who deserves a special mention for putting up with me for so long) Marketing Mechanics certainly gave me a well rounded insight into how a marketing agency should be run, simultaneously developing a number of key skills which I will take into my career upon my return to the UK.

Add this, to the creative brainpower of fellow colleagues Jaap and Jurjen and you really have a team driven to succeed.

According to many sources, “Variety is the spice of the life” and at Marketing Mechanics, you get that in abundance! From writing proposals for new and existing clients to baby sitting celebrity dogs, there’s never a dull moment!So I wish Di, Bonnie, Sandy, Jaap, Jurjen, Asa and Silke all the best in the future!

Kind Regards

Aaron

dec08

Hey there,
My name is Vanessa and I’m from Germany. Currently I am studying International Business at the European Fachhochschule Fresenius in Idstein. Since my study requires me to do an internship overseas I decided to come to Australia. and that is how I was lead here to “Marketing Mechanics”.

My internship at Marketing Mechanics was a great opportunity for me to gather new knowledge in the field of marketing. Some of the tasks included things like marketing proposals, competitor analysis, designing layouts and templates, working with adobe photoshop and illustrator.

Bonnie, Di & Sandy are fantastic and a lot of fun to work with.
Thanks again for everything!
Vanessa

2008

Sandy, Vanessa & Lise @ the xmas party Lise!

Hi, my name is Lise and I come from France। Currently I am a student in a Business school and I had 6 months to do an internship overseas. Going to Australia was a dream for me and I decided to fulfill it. As I would like to take marketing specialization, I thought it was a good idea to have a professional experience in a company specialized in it. So Marketing Mechanics was the perfect one because I could really discover the practical marketing. I lived a great time, people are really friendly and I would never forget my time there.

Hello, I’m Nadine, from Germany. I finished studying last year in October. I studied business information systems in Karlsruhe (Germany). So I did a lot of software development the last few years. And because I liked Marketing in uni I decided that I wanted to do an internship in marketing to get some practical experience and to see how I’ll like it…

And so far, that’s how I found my way to Marketing Mechanics. I really enjoyed the last two month in this agency. I learned at lot of different things - I created marketing proposals, collated informations and statistical facts via then internet, helped with design and web briefs and created webpage’s with templates - many things I didn’t know before.

Sandy showed me a lot of new things especially in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator (Thank you for that). Bonnie, Di and Sandy were so friendly and nice to me. It was a pleasure to work with them… I wish you guys all the best for the future! You’ll definitely hear from me again! ;-)

Thank you for everything! Nadine

Hi there,
My name is Dani and I am from the United States, Missouri to be exact. As of this May, I have just completed my degree in advertising at Macquarie University in Sydney. Amazingly enough I was placed in an internship at Marketing Mechanics to fulfill some of my degree requirements. I just have to say it was awesome. Way better than sitting in a classroom and pretending to pay attention to the lecturer (not that I don’t ;). I couldn’t have asked for a better placement. My experience here has truly expanded my marketing and advertising techniques and taught me heaps. Bonnie and Di are not only great supervisors, but great people. It’s because of my experience with them and all the people I met at Marketing Mechanics (Sandy, Christian…even though he is returning to Germany) that I have decided to return to Sydney to live for who knows how long (that’s right I bought a one way ticket at the end of July, yikes). It is at this time that I fully intend on bothering everyone here and making them show me around, sorry ladies. Well, what else can I say other than I loved working here and know I have had an experience that will not only further me in my career opportunities, but be an experience I will never forget!

CHEERS!