I’m writing on what will be my last day of a three month internship at HAVAS Just:: before I return to the Francis Crick Institute to complete the final year of my doctorate in cell biology.
As part of my PhD scheme, I have the opportunity to undertake a placement outside of the lab and, after deciding to pursue an internship in healthcare communications, I was delighted to be accepted to join Havas Just:: for the summer.
I was attracted to Just:: as I knew I’d get the opportunity to work on some really worthwhile and exciting projects.
Something that also appealed to me was the Just:: values: Collaboration, Curiosity and Confidence, all three of which were rooted in my journey here…
Collaboration
The culture at Havas Just:: means collaboration is easy. On my first day I was immediately put at ease upon being introduced to all the smiling faces!
One thing I quickly noticed was that it’s not immediately obvious who the senior members of staff are; Just:: has a non-hierarchical ethos, with colleagues from interns all the way up to the senior management team (SMT) sharing the open-plan office space. As a result, everyone has a great relationship.
The SMT even left these ‘Late Summer Survival Kits’ on everyone’s desks one morning:
The great work environment is made even better by the monthly socials! Whilst here, I’ve enjoyed axe throwing and ping pong nights!
Being an intern has also put me in a great position to collaborate as I’ve been given the opportunity to work with lots of different teams, helping out with a large variety of projects.
Curiosity
Coming from a research background, I’m naturally curious – so it was great that the quarterly company meeting, Just:: Looking Both Ways, was taking place during my first week here! Part of this meeting is account updates, which was a great opportunity to get a taste of all the exciting projects that the agency is working on.
On top of this, my first couple of weeks were spent in inductions and onboarding, and I was taught about the drug marketing process as well as the approval and referencing platforms used by clients – something I’d never thought of before!
I’ve found that curiosity is a very important attribute in this industry, as to put great ideas forward to a client it helps to be aware of successful communication campaigns that have taken place elsewhere. I used this approach when developing social media content for a disease awareness campaign – building on an Instagram approach used by another prominent healthcare company.
Confidence
One thing I’ll definitely be taking away from my short time at Just:: is a new found confidence. My colleagues have allowed me to get stuck in to client work and as I’ve gained experience, have trusted me to meet with clients and make certain projects my own.
Work I’m most proud of has included taking charge of monitoring news coverage and producing a weekly report for one client, as well as developing the social media content, mentioned above, for another.
I’m now looking to the future and hope to pursue a career in healthcare communications upon completion of my PhD!