N6-fAmily Spotlight: Going from Intern to Account Manager Superstar
N6A’s Shayla Ridore on what to look for in a great internship program.
On July 30, we’re joining thousands of other businesses to celebrate interns across the country for National Intern Day. Created by WayUp in 2017, National Intern Day is a holiday dedicated to recognizing the future leaders of the world: interns!
As part of the celebration, we’re kicking off a three-part blog series highlighting some of our former interns who are now part of our N6-fAmily.
N6A Account Manager Shayla Ridore recently talked to us about her experience as an N6A intern when she was a communications major at Hoftra University in 2015, plus her thoughts on what students should look for in an intern program.
What were your career goals in college?
Shayla Ridore: In college, my goals were to begin a career where I could see myself growing in the short and long term. I also wanted to make sure that the field I went into was something I enjoyed and that wouldn’t cause me to burn out and lose interest.
What do you think makes a good internship program?
A good internship program is one that is hands-on and allows someone to learn the ins and outs of a job that are more difficult to learn in the classroom.
The ability to turn to dedicated managers who show you the right way to complete tasks and explain why things are done a certain way is crucial for an internship program because it sets you up to succeed once you fully enter the workforce.
Finally, a good program is one that fully immerses the intern with the full staff. Getting to experience true working relationships and make connections is key to learning how to be successful on teams in the future.
Why did you choose N6A for your internship?
A friend of mine was finishing her internship with N6A right as I was in the process of applying to begin one. She spoke highly of her experience with N6A and mentioned how it was a small but quickly growing team at the time.
I loved the idea of getting in on the ground floor of something that was going to be big in the industry.
What internship skill-building assignments helped you with your career today?
From the start of my internship with N6A, I was taken in as a member of the team and began working on assignments that I would have been assigned in the entry-level position as well, except with more help and more time to complete them. This propelled me for my career today because I was actively learning and honing skills that were going to be important moving forward and contributing to the team.
Once I joined N6A as a full-time Account Coordinator, I was able to hit the ground running because I was already familiar with the tasks I would be completing in my new role.
Why did you decide to stay or return to N6A once your internship was over?
By the time my internship with N6A was coming to an end, I knew this was a company that would allow me to reach my career goals, and have a fun time in doing so. The company culture and scrappy startup mentality drew me in and I never left!
My internship ended and two weeks later after graduation I was back on the team full time.
Check out Compete and Care to learn more about our company culture and what it’s like working at N6A.