If there were a song that could best describe my hunt for summer experience this year it would be ABBA Take a Chance On Me. There I was, a second year history student at the University of York, with little relevant industry experience but a keen thirst to learn.
Countless application letters, phone interviews, assessment centres and rejection emails later I was still unemployed at the end of June. However, I was also stubborn enough to keep searching for opportunities that just might make my summer dream a reality. On the day in mind, I started the usual process; I tailored my CV to the job description, sat for hours drafting my application answers, and finally hit “Submit.”
I got a phone call the same day. The person on the other side of the line introduced herself as Jem, she was calling from Attest to organise a phone interview later that week.
A week later I jumped on a train to London and met with Jem and Beth for an hour-long interview. Although this might sound like a really daunting process, it was the most relaxing one I had all year. The questions were relevant and challenging, but they weren’t trying to catch me out. Everything was done to make sure that I performed the best I could that day. It wasn’t a long wait until I received a phone call, and that much-anticipated ‘Yes’.
For someone whose year consisted of getting ‘No’ or ‘Not good enough’ fired at me from all directions (potential employers, sports coaches, even seminar tutors) getting a ‘Yes’ honestly felt like the best thing since sliced bread.
The role: Product & Marketing Intern
With just two months to get stuck in, my role involved researching competitor solutions, writing blog posts and most importantly making sure that the Attest help centre was up to scratch.
I worked largely on Intercom, which is a customer messaging platform through which you can also build a custom help centre page. The focus was to make sure that all of the content was up to date with our product and aligned with brand guidelines. My main goal was to establish a help centre that was easy to navigate and easy to read. So I spent my summer redrafting, writing and creating new visual assets, all to help our clients navigate our insights platform.
Writing technical FAQ content pieces was a challenge as the style of writing and the research required was so different from anything that I’ve tackled in my academic career. But thanks to the right coaching from my manager I got the hang of it pretty quickly and began publishing relevant material within the first week. This was a very exciting job as I had the chance to collaborate with different people across the business and get creative with it! I also had the opportunity to write technical pieces like How to get started with brand tracking and guides on The Attest audience. Once again, this was something that I knew nothing about coming into the role, but after doing desk research and interviews with experts across the company, it was so satisfying to put out content that was educational to our clients and experience the feeling that I learned something new that week.
When it comes to the blog posts I wrote, my favourite piece was definitely an interview with our Director of Client Experience, Renata Kashiwaya Pinheiro. This was my first long-form piece of content, which I managed to release within my first two weeks at Attest. More importantly, this allowed me to get to know a senior member of the company very early on.
Attest preaches responsible autonomy for all employees across all their projects, while always knowing that you can use each other to bounce ideas and to create something great in the long run!
The highlights reel
A big bonus: Wednesday team lunch, for free!
On a more serious note, the main highlight of the whole experience was meeting all the people in the company. Everyone at Attest is hardworking and truly good at what they do. Not only this, they were also excited to teach me and help me grow, which is an unusual and valuable trait for a company filled with such skilled and busy people.
Another personal highlight was the Growth team offsite. The team got the opportunity to learn about each other through the four colours personality test. This helped us to understand each other better when working in a fast paced environment, recognising that flexing to suit the other personalities in the room is vital to keeping colleagues on-side and developing strong working relationships.
Looking back and looking forward
Looking back at my time with Attest, I am so glad the company took a chance on me. I have gained more relevant skills in nine weeks here than I did during my whole time in higher education. I am now more confident in my ability, and ready for what postgraduate life holds for me (if I survive my dissertation, that is).
Should you apply for an internship at Attest? Yes! Should you think about working for a scale-up? I couldn’t recommend it more. It is hard work, but you get a lot of responsibility and autonomy to explore your own working style. Even as an intern you can make changes and leave an impact on the business in a short amount of time. Working for Attest is a truly unique opportunity.
If you are looking at a new exciting opportunity, check out the careers page, and take a chance on Attest!