I got in touch with YLD for a 6 month marketing internship position and was interviewed in September 2015. After an initial Skype call, I was invited to the YLD office for an one-to-one interview with Head of Marketing, Laura Plaga. A week afterwards, I was offered a position and I was ecstatic!
My role started off open-ended, primarily relating to Marketing and running the social platforms. As time went on, I primarily devoted of my efforts to event coordination, content writing, and editing company documents to make things go smoothly.
The first week was a learning curve, as most first weeks are at a new job. Originally I was intimidated to join because of the team’s rapid growth as a company and numerous achievements. I (incorrectly) assumed I would be talked-down-to or patronised, as I do not come from a large technology background. Despite this, I stood corrected as the YLD team was inclusive, fun, and accommodating to a student like myself. One of the things that stood out most to me was YLD’s extremely cooperative attitude towards my university schedule. The whole team emanated a collaborative and hard-working spirit that was quickly adopted by every team member.
During my time at YLD, some of my favourite projects I have worked on include helping to plan the company’s second birthday party at the Skyloft in November of 2015, and assisting in the rebranding process of early 2016. Additionally, I worked alongside Laura to construct a plan for every piece of content YLD plans to publish. This allows YLD to deliver consistent, original, and engaging posts on a weekly basis.
To sum up my work experience in a few words I would use: dynamic, challenging, and exciting. The entire YLD team is friendly, hilarious, and most importantly willing to share their respected advice with those who want to learn. Another enriching trait about YLD is that every individual brings a unique background and skillset to the table, creating a mixing pot of different cultures and insight. All in all, it was a pleasure to work alongside of these great minds for the past six months. I can safely say I have taken away invaluable transferrable skills, memories I will recall fondly, and the ability to call myself #iAmYLD!