Brand Activation Intern Review

I enjoyed it very much. I was the only intern in my department, so being handed over everything from all the brand managers was hard, but manageable. You can always just say that you have a lot to do already and that you won't make the deadline and they are very understandable.

I felt very valued. Maybe not a lot by some of them in the beginning. However, by heing honest with them and letting them know that im not just here to grab coffee for them they understood that i was there to learn. I especially appreciated that my manager took the time to teach me things. you

In my role I had a lead manager, two brand managers and a brand coordinator, so four people in total to guide me and give me tips. They were very helpful each with their own brand. Sometimes even tips on how to go on after my internship which I appreciated a lot. Seeing as the marketing team works closely with the sales team, you get to know them very well too. And they are also very helpful

It changed constantly. Some days you have deadlines that are the next day for some projects (sometimes even the same day!) and other days you would have close to nothing to do. And I say close to nothing, because anytime you think you are done, some task gets handed to you small or big.

In the beginning not much. I was given really easy tasks. but as soon as they started to get more confidence in me I started getting bigger projects. Like for example doing the translations that would eventually end up on the packaging of the products. Also, an intern project that had little to no supervision from higher managers.

There wasn’t much overlap seeing as Mattel is a huge company and have a clear set of guidelines to do business. However, you could see some business aspect that were though in university come back in a more practical form. In the marketing case it was how the target group was analyzed.

It was very nonhierarchical. Although the lead manager has an office of her own, the rest of us all sat together. The lead manager would come by from time to time to either check on the process of tasks. Even when getting coffee, we would all rotate, we all got coffee and teas for each other.

They weren’t cleared guideline of what my tasks were. It was more a do as you go type of business. So not very well organized. I did tasks depending on the manager’s needs. There is no list of daily task to be done. And if it happens that you have nothing to do you could just ask anybody for something and there would always be something.

Not at all. It was more of a choice though. You could choose to follow certain courses offered but I was not forced by my managers.

Personally not that appealing or at least not appealing to stay in the same country. Maybe same company different country. There is nothing wrong with this particular office. It is just a personal choice to go abroad.

Yes, definitely there was an intern project where all our skills were put to test. So we had to constantly have meetings to arrange the project and to keep each other informed of any news. Also, outside work we would socialize. So I would say that there is a very nice social scene amongst fellow interns.

No idea. I did not live near work. But in the area I lived (south-east Amsterdam) the cost of living would be around 500 euro in rent (internet and electricity included), 120-ish in groceries, maybe in a busy month of constantly eating at restaurants max 150 euro. Traveling to and from work would be around 4 euros every day.

I lived near the ZiggoDome, Heineken Music hall and Ajax Arena. So there was constantly something to do.

Facebook is your friends in this one. I joined many boot camps during the summer. Amsterdam is a city full of activities. So many museums to visit and canals to tour, concerts and theaters to visit. The choice is all yours. One thing I learned in Amsterdam is that is there´s always something to do.