Ruby and Madison, grade 11 students from Notre Dame High School, recently completed a three month placement with us. It was a great experience and we loved having savvy young technology students as part of our team. So what did they think of their experience? Read our latest blog post to find out.
– Why did you choose BlueSky for your co-op placement?
R: I wanted to gain knowledge of the public relations industry and am also interested in social media marketing, so when I came across BlueSky’s website it caught my eye. From the very beginning, they were professional, engaging and collaborative and I knew that this would be a wonderful experience for me to explore the industry, as well as to learn and grow.
M: I always had an interest in social media marketing, so once I began my co-op class, I really wanted to find an agency where I could expand my knowledge and get some hand-on experience. Once we discovered BlueSky we could instantly tell it was an amazing environment. I didn’t really know much about public relations but since BlueSky is a PR agency, I was able to see first-hand what a career in this or social media marketing could look like.
– What has been your favourite part of ‘working’ with BlueSky?
R: My favourite part of doing my co-op placement at BlueSky is having the chance to work on social media brainstorming, specifically, coming up with topic ideas and creating captions for posts. I thoroughly enjoy developing different copy ideas that would engage the audience.
M: For me, creating the visual side of social posts was most fun. After I had brainstormed and planned out my ideas, I was able to bring them to life by designing them in Canva and then creating compelling captions for the viewers.
– How has this co-op experience impacted you?
R: This co-op at BlueSky has given me a better understanding of what it’s like to work in this industry. It helped me realize that I would like to pursue a career in public relations and I feel it has prepared me for my future. Being able to work with many people on a variety of different things has helped me gain experience in multiple areas.
M: One of the benefits of doing a co-op with a smaller agency like BlueSky was having the opportunity to work with various people across the different teams and learn about social media, content creators and even the management parts of the business. The social media side seems very enjoyable to me so it’s highly likely that in the future I will take a job in this field. Also, I feel this has helped me prepare for post-secondary education and a job because I also mastered multitasking in the workplace.
– Was there an achievement you’re proud of during your internship?
R: I am especially proud of the BlueSky holiday card, which Madison and I worked on together. We brainstormed some potential ideas with the team, then Madison and I had to use our own creativity to develop the card. We had a lot of fun constructing different cards and my favourite part was playing around with formats, font sizes, and potential colours. The whole BlueSky team helped us make this happen and the final holiday card turned out amazing.
M: I agree! This project was especially fun for me because I am currently in a Print and Graphics course where I use Canva so working on this project and getting insight from the team has greatly helped me get additional experience for this class. The card ended up looking great and they got a lot of good feedback from the people who received it.
-What advice would you give other co-op students looking for placements?
R: My advice would be to find a placement with a business or industry that you’re interested in, as this can really help narrow down future career paths. BlueSky’s work interested me and it’s something I could see doing in the future. Additionally, make sure that the people will engage and collaborate with you so you can truly learn. BlueSky trusted us to run with the assignments and I feel this was really important.
M: Absolutely – and I would also add make sure it fits with your values. I was drawn to BlueSky because you can tell from their website that they are a kind and welcoming community. When we had our interview, they were so interested in making sure that we got as much as we could out of our placement to help best prepare us for the future. Make sure that the co-op student chooses a placement in which they can see themselves in the future because if you have the right placement, it could confirm what career path you may want to go on.
–What did you do at BlueSky?
R & M: We worked on a variety of different things during our time at BlueSky, but an ongoing project was the social media brainstorming. This consisted of producing potential social media post ideas, creating visuals and captions to go along with them. Additionally, we worked on content creator sourcing, which is finding and researching TikTok creators for potential collaborations with brands. We had the opportunity to work with the BlueSky team and a client on researching different speaker series. This gave us the opportunity to learn about the importance of research and how to do it effectively, as well as experience working with a client. BlueSky’s holiday card was probably our favourite task; this was a super exciting and fun project that we got to create for the team, which gave us the chance to see a different side of them.
