Below you’ll find out what being an intern at Direction Inc. is like, from multiple people’s perspectives – read on to see more!
Intern: Joshua Klafter
A Review of My Experience at Direction.com
As the 2 & ½ week point rapidly approaches, it becomes increasingly astounding to me that I have only been interning with Direction Inc. for such a brief amount of time. The sheer quantity of knowledge I have obtained is incredible.
This learning is not meant to undermine the robust body of hands-on involvement I have been privileged to engage in. Here are just some of the valuable experiences I have obtained in the past 12 weekdays.
SEO Fundamentals
Before starting my internship with Direction, I knew very little about search engine optimization. I understood one core principle- the goal is to get the client to the top of Google. I had no grasp of the hard work, dedication, and genius tactics that went into achieving this goal.
The founder takes time out of his schedule to explain the core fundamentals of SEO to me in a format that I can clearly understand.
These lessons are only enhanced by their robust body of SEO work, which they use to contextualize their teachings. I am learning SEO from expert search engine optimizers.
The state-of-the-art technology and cutting-edge resources they have in their arsenal only make these lessons more practical and engaging.
I wasn’t just lectured to and let go. I have been given multiple unique opportunities to apply my newfound knowledge in a real-world context.
I have been crafting actual content for clients using the techniques Direction has taught me. Within such a shockingly tiny amount of time, I have begun actively producing content using SEO strategies I knew virtually nothing about prior.
Blog and Article Writing for Clients
Producing content for clients has been one of the most valuable experiences of my time at Direction so far. Although I have had various writing-centric internships in the past, all of that writing has been either journalistic or for the core company itself.
Interning at Direction has been my first real-world client writing experience.
Law firms, air conditioning companies, and rehabilitation centers are just a few of the clients I have been able to write content for. This experience has been immensely rewarding; my hard work and effort are going towards a practical purpose.
With only two dozen full workdays under my belt, my writing can be found prominently positioned on client websites. If this is what I have been able to accomplish in just two weeks, I can only imagine how much practical writing experience I will have after two months.
Google Analytics
Interning with Direction gave me the opportunity to familiarize myself with a valuable business tool that is Google Analytics. My co-interns and I were given the privilege to take a complete analytics course and receive a certification in the program.
Although the class can be completed independently from an internship environment, the help of my fellow Direction employees was invaluable in my development of an understanding of the program.
They gave me detailed guidance, expert advice, and articulate explanations I needed to grasp everything Google Analytics has to offer. The fact that I would have never considered working towards a certification in Google Analytics before coming to Direction shouldn’t go without note.
My time with Direction thus far has proved to be one of the most valuable workplace environments I’ve ever had to opportunity to have been a part of.
I look forward to using the abundance of knowledge and experience I have gained in more real-world applications. I hope to learn even more as the next few months progress and apply this experience to my future career path.
Three Months Later….
It feels like only yesterday that I sat down to write about what I had learned at Direction Inc. after a mere 2.5 weeks. After roughly quadruple that amount of time, I am astonished by how much my perspective on this internship opportunity has changed.
Although I was impressed by the amount of education and hands-on experience I had obtained at that time, my appreciation for Direction Inc. has grown exponentially since. Although the sheer quantity of knowledge I have received is undefinable, here are just a few of the innumerable experiences I learned from over my two months interning with the best digital marketing agency in the world.
Working Directly with Clients
During my initial report, I discussed how invaluable writing for clients had been in enhancing my real-world writing skills. Not only did this growth continue over the next 1.5 months, but an additional element entered the fray, increasing this educational value tenfold. I had the privilege of speaking with and working directly with clients.
Placing both a face and voice to what was previously just a business entity added a unique element of empathy to my content writing perspective.
I was able to craft a more profound understanding of their needs and desires on a professional level and was able to implement these goals into my improved writing.
For this reason, as well as supplementary guidance from the marketing and SEO experts that comprise the Direction Inc. team, I was able to improve my content writing immensely.
I developed innovative writing skills that I plan to take with me into my future endeavors; I am incredibly grateful to Direction Inc. for facilitating this growth.
Expanding Upon my SEO Fundamentals
Before my time with Direction Inc., I had virtually no idea what successful search engine optimization entailed. After only 2.5 weeks, I developed a basic understanding of the dedication, genius strategies, and hard work that goes into every SEO campaign.
I was grateful to the founders of Direction Inc. for taking the time to break down these complex tactics into a format that I was able to digest quickly. Multiply this knowledge period by four, and my grasp on SEO has only expanded.
The founders tasked me with projects that aided in the enhanced development of my SEO understanding and skills. These include, but are by no means limited to, citation building, keyword charting, PBN writing, and WordPress formatting.
Engaging in these search engine optimization endeavors challenged me on both an intellectual and creative level. I found modifying both my writing and work strategies to fit into an ever-changing online environment to be challenging, but unarguably worthwhile.
Thanks to the dedicated aid of every member of the Direction Inc. team, I was able to overcome these mental obstacles and excel at projects that, before beginning this internship, I didn’t even know existed.
A lot changed throughout my time at Direction Inc. My perspective on the rapidly-advancing SEO and marketing industries, as well as their seamless integration, was forever altered. I feel privileged to have worked with and learned from professionals with such a robust passion and expertise for their craft.
I will always remember the lessons I learned over these two months, and will frequently apply them throughout my future career path. Thank you, Direction Inc., for giving me an unforgettable summer.
Intern: Amber Colbert
Whats it Like to Be an Intern at Direction.com
With my internship ending, I look back on where I was when I started and where I am now. And I’m amazed at how far I’ve come.
If I’m honest, it was a little intimidating at first. Having never done anything with marketing before, I wasn’t sure how well I would be able to follow along.
I can remember my first day when I sat down and did a course on SEO and felt utterly lost.
I didn’t know anything.
But I had three months to change that and a team of experts to help.
The Lessons
When I say I knew absolutely nothing about SEO coming in, I mean it. I knew SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and that’s about it. And honestly, I didn’t even really know what that meant.
I wouldn’t exactly claim to be an expert on SEO now – I’ll leave that honor to Chris – but my knowledge has grown tenfold.
One of my favorite parts about the internship was that a simple question could often launch into a full lesson.
If anyone had a question about SEO, no matter how small, Chris would often stop what he was doing, go to the whiteboard, and explain it to us with illustrations. He welcomed questions and actually got excited about explaining the answers.
He kept us updated with every new fact he learned, every new tool he discovered, and every new strategy he developed. He kept us so informed that, if knowledge were currency, we’d all be rich.
He would even call meetings sometimes just so we could all talk about SEO – about something new we had learned, what we were confused about, and anything in between.
And he wasn’t the only one who always had an answer, or at the very least, time to help you find an answer. Sarah, Anya, and Alina were similarly there to lend a helping hand.
Doing this internship right out of college was extremely valuable to me.
As an English major, I’d always been taught to write a certain way. But the general public doesn’t want to read a research paper when they’re looking for a quick and easy answer.
As a Content Creation Intern, I was able to put my skills to use while also flexing my creative side.
(Or, as Sarah likes to say, being unafraid to “get weird.”)
It helped me learn how to write in a style that was approachable and readable. And then I was able to find out how to optimize that writing so it would rank on Google.
And there are so many more lessons that I learned – small and big. (The endless supply of random facts that the people at Direction spout daily is pretty incredible.)
I can honestly say I’m walking out of this internship much more knowledgeable than I came in.
The Direction Team
The team at Direction is a small but tight-knit group. Within my first week here, we had a 4th of July cookout together. Birthdays never passed without a little recognition. And a nerf-gun fight or two was known to break out every now and then.
When everyone started to get bogged down with work, we would pull out the card games for a quick breather. It helped us to stay fresh and excited about coming to work.
Chris is a compulsive helper. Any time someone has a question or a problem, he’s always quick to jump in with a suggestion or solution.
The entire team is open and friendly and makes sure it never gets too quiet or awkward in the office.
Anya always has a joke or quip to keep the atmosphere light.
Alina makes sure that everyone always takes care of themselves. And you’ll always have someone to eat lunch with as long as she’s around.
David is an outstanding leader and also knows how to have fun. David eagerly jumps right into any nerf-gun fights (while still keeping one hand on his keyboard to finish his work, to make it even more impressive.)
And my supervisor Sarah always had an inspirational thought or supportive word. She reminded us daily that it was okay to get a little creative or a little weird, which I honestly think kept us all on top of our games.
When you join the Direction team, you get access to all of the free-flowing knowledge and experience that these people have.
It didn’t matter that I was only going to be here for three months. They made sure that when I left, I would be overflowing with information.
The Takeaway
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention all of the opportunities this internship gave me.
By the end of my first day, they’d already started me on my first article. After just a few short weeks, my work was published on countless websites.
Every new blog gave me a chance to learn something new. They threw me right into the mix and kept me busy. And I never felt bored because I always had something to work on.
I was also able to look at websites from the back end and design, edit, and update pages for our clients.
If I made a mistake, they were quick to show me how to fix it. And then they would let me put my newfound knowledge to the test.
Perhaps the most impressive thing to me is that every intern was given tools and guidelines on how to build their own personal website, if interested. And if you did choose to create your own website, every member of the team was always quick to offer advice.
Three months ago, I walked in the door knowing nothing. I was nervous to try to do something I’d never done before. And I was curious to see what the next few months would teach me.
Now, three months later, I can say that this internship was about building the skills necessary for success. It didn’t matter that I didn’t know what I was doing when I came in, because they had the tools to help me figure it out.
The people at Direction want you to leave better than you arrived. So if you’re thinking of applying to an internship at Direction, I would encourage you to hit the submit button.
You’ll thank me in three months.
We’re always looking for incredible people, check out our job openings today if you’d like to join the team!
