![](https://u.osu.edu/stepinternships23/files/2024/08/IMG_8179-300x225.jpg)
Kobie Parrish, lower middle, pictured with other interns at iTech AG.
By: Kobie Parrish
Dual Degree in Public Affairs and Strategic Communication
Minor in Science and Engineering in the Public Interest (SEPI)
During the summer semester of 2024, I participated in a marketing and communications internship at iTech AG, a tech consultancy firm in Arlington, Virginia. Throughout the internship, I focused on social media development, blog and copywriting and conducting competitor analyses to strengthen the iTech AG brand.
This was my first dedicated marketing and communications internship, and I learned a lot about the processes used to brainstorm, execute and monitor marketing campaigns for a specific industry. I learned what it means to keep brand guidelines, mission statements and values in my work as I designed, wrote, and generated material for iTech AG. I worked alongside my team and was an active member of the process. I helped bring new ideas to the table, like a social media plan for their Instagram and found topics to write about for their website blog section. Working on these various deliverables made me feel more confident about my ability to work in public relations and communications, confirming my desire to pursue a career in this industry.
Alongside strengthening my communication and PR skills, I learned what it meant to work in a company that is a government contractor as iTech AG provided technology services to federal agencies and departments. I worked alongside other employees and interns on very high-level technical projects. I learned what it means to be in tech consulting and what processes are used in client work to help service implementation. This included learning about a popular software service called ServiceNow, a leading service that supports clients with IT service management and various other IT aspects. I learned a great deal of technical information, including work process terms like agile, sprints, scrum teams and more, which are all used depending on the type of consulting. While I am a PR-orientated individual, I can work in the tech consultancy industry, know what kind of work is done and apply it to my PR work for a tech consultancy firm.
When I was accepted as an intern at iTech AG, I was the company’s first marketing and communications intern. That allowed me to have a unique experience where I could also shape the role and work on various projects that interested me. One project I worked on included a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis. This project took me a week to work on and had me focus on the iTech AG brand and six of its other major competitors. I applied processes I had learned from my strategic communication courses at Ohio State to this project and found several interesting things in my research. Afterward, I was able to organize my research and spent roughly 40 minutes presenting it to the marketing team. Our marketing team was very impressed, and our marketing director even said that my research and presentation were more in-depth and extensive than what they had seen other PR firms do. This strengthened my confidence in my ability to work in this industry, confirming that this is the type of work that I want to do post-graduation.
Alongside the SWOT analysis, a notable skill I acquired was the ability to translate high-level, complex technical information into social media copy that could be understood by both clients and the general public. The client teams at iTech AG wanted the marketing team to promote various aspects of the work done for clients. Those teams provided us with documents highlighting the high-level work done. As someone like me who has never worked in the tech consulting industry, I had to learn the specific terms and processes and how they could be communicated in an understandable way to general audiences. This was a notable experience because it gave me valuable knowledge of the tech consulting industry. It made me realize that, as PR individuals, we are essentially “translators” for different industries and audiences.
Lastly, working with my team was a notable experience in that I now know what to look for when applying for jobs. Our team consisted of about five unique individuals, all focusing on various marketing and communication aspects that strengthened the iTech AG brand together. They supported me as an intern and treated me with respect while giving me comprehensive and engaging work. My manager would meet with me at the beginning of each week to discuss what projects I would be working on and meet periodically to review completed items. The marketing team overall gave me great constructive feedback that allowed me to learn and grow as an individual in the field. We also all got to know each other personally, sharing details of our lives outside of work that made us feel more like a team rather than drones going on about their work. They all supported me, and I was happy to be viewed as one of their team members. Together, this has given me something to look for when looking for jobs down the road, as I want to ensure that I find a team that supports me and is genuinely interested in me as an individual.
This experience has been transformative for me as it was the first time my work as an intern was entirely focused on the communications field. Since enrolling as a student at Ohio State, I have been able to apply the knowledge and lessons learned in courses in the work that I was doing. It confirmed that the time I am spending in my courses is worthwhile and that it is preparing me for a successful career in communications and public relations work. It gave me something to look for after graduation, and I have found a work style that suits my interests. I was a part of a team that cared about and respected me as an individual. I now want to work for a place like iTech AG that is supportive and allows me to explore various innovative topics that can strengthen the brand I am working with. Professionally, I am now more equipped to work in this industry and bring my experiences to other roles that I will be in.
I have already accepted another marketing and communications internship at the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) for the fall and spring semesters. I am already applying the lessons I learned from this summer’s internship experience to the work I am doing now. As time goes on, I expect this summer’s experience to continue to impact my decisions positively and will continue to build on my knowledge in this industry overall. Completing this internship, thanks to the support of organizations like STEP, allowed me to pursue my interests and gain a remarkable, transformative experience that will support me for years to come.