Earlier this month, Planit welcomed Gilman School students Jack Dearing and Jake Smith to spend 10 days at the agency as part of their “Senior Encounter.” From industry research to internal brainstorms and client meetings, these high school students–affectionately dubbed “the kidterns”–were given the opportunity to see the inner workings of our creative funhouse.
So, from the mouths of babes, here’s what it’s like to job shadow at Planit:
“There is an offhand “tradition” in my family that no son follows the same career path as his father. We avoid it–and anything similar–like the plague. However, my brief two-week internship at Planit has forced me to rethink that possibility. Beforehand, I had practically refused to consider a job even remotely related to marketing, where my father has worked for years. As an incoming college freshman, I’m trying to keep my future options open, but what I undoubtedly loved at Planit was its casually energetic culture. It’s a bit like Mad Men without the ruthlessness. I personally was a fan of the creative meetings, where anyone and everyone thinks of ideas for whatever brand is in question. They weren’t what I had expected–mundane television commercials, newspaper advertisements, etc.–but casually original, with thoughts to break world records, to hand out free pedometers at events, and even to create mega-sized billiards on a football field. As a whole, working at Planit for those two weeks has been infinitely more exciting, interesting, and enjoyable than what I could have been doing at another internship–pushing papers and making spreadsheets.”
–Jack Dearing
“During my time at Planit, a Nerf bullet only hit me once. I was fortunate enough to sit in the creative department during my brief tenure at Planit, and I was exposed to a whole new work environment that included random eruptions of applause, petrified bananas, and Nerf battles. Through all of this, I still managed to absorb and witness so much of what goes on behind the scenes of an ad agency. I sat in on client meetings, brainstorming sessions, and creative
department meetings. I was also assigned to research many different topics, ranging from animal poop statistics to social media habits in China. From these experiences, I discovered that Planit is an exciting place with such a diverse clientele that each assignment forces you to think up something new. Planit is definitely a great place for a creative mind. This was absolutely a worthwhile experience that has created a potential career path for me. The creative department was such a fun–and sometimes ridiculous–place to work. As I move on to college, I am still unsure if I want to major in art or something else, but my time at Planit has shown me an excellent creative outlet that I can pursue.”
–Jake Smith