Cecily Rauh managed five social media accounts and supported public relations strategy for HiFi Social.
How did you get your internship and why did you choose this opportunity?
I applied to HiFi Social via LinkedIn, and had two interviews to see if I was a good fit. I had not been previously considering the idea of working in hospitality, but I was curious to see what that industry entailed. I knew I wanted to gain additional marketing experience and this internship would provide that chance to further develop my skills in this area. It was also my first paid internship, which was a plus, and the company perks were good too.
I also wanted an internship to be in a city I was interested in moving to after leaving Tucson. Chicago seemed like a good start for after college.
What kind of work did you do throughout your internship experience?
I participated in regular meetings about marketing tactics and implementation, but the bulk of my work was in social media and content creation. I handled five of the company's social media pages. My work included brainstorming and planning programming and content, working photoshoots, creating copy, and analyzing analytics. One of the most satisfying moments during my internship was having one of the TikToks I made for one of our restaurant deals go viral!
I was also the first person to start handling the company's public relations; they didn't have anyone doing it before. So, I pioneered this role for them. I learned very quickly with this responsibility as one of our clients had a public relations crisis - I came up with a strategy to counter the negative publicity.
The internship taught me many things. For example, I learned how to have full responsibility over a company or brand's social media presence. I also learned a lot about event promotions and about the hospitality industry in general.