PARTNER TESTIMONIALS

Hey, my name is Tobias Ajudua, and my 6-month internship at Pearl Lemon has ended. It’s crazy to think how slow 6 months can go but then suddenly, it’s over, but here we are.

I started full-time in June 2021 for what was initially meant to be a 3-month summer internship due to university commitments, but the team was gracious enough to offer me a further 3 months under part-time hours, which I jumped at immediately.

At university, I study Business management and marketing, so I wanted something that linked to that and could give me practical experience in that field, so an SEO consultancy agency that worked with a whole range of clients? It almost seemed too good to be true. 

But let’s not dwell. How was my experience in those 6 months? Good, excellent in fact.

First things first, don’t confuse great with easy. The learning curve at the start was intense, but if I’m being honest it never ended, it just got easier to handle.

My main responsibility was as part of the content writing team, but I frequently collaborated with the PR team and other groups within Pearl Lemon. 

Every month brought either a direct change to my responsibilities or, at the very least, a development on what I was already doing. As you can imagine, this required a lot of adapting and on-the-job learning, but this is a good thing if you’re anything like me.

I detest monotony and repetition, so when I was applying for internships, I intentionally looked for one that would keep me on my toes and offer a range of responsibilities and roles, which is precisely what I got here.

Adaptability is a core skill that I pride myself on, and working here definitely put that to the test.

My biggest problem before coming here was not knowing what I wanted to do in the future. 

There are countless careers and roles in the world, so the idea of pigeonholing this early in life was absurd to me. How were people deciding the rest of their life this easily?

This realization was quite alarming hence why I decided to actively make the first step and start dabbling in internships, so when I finally make that choice, I have enough experience to justify it.

I’m not going to say that my 6 months here has solved all my qualms and set my path in stone, but it has certainly given me a better idea.

The ins and outs of PR have always interested me, and I am still far from an expert, but my time dabbling in it has made it a strong contender in the long run.

Writing is another skill that I’ve had in my arsenal but haven’t had a chance to use as much recently, minus the creatively-devoid academic writing of school. That’s why I enjoyed content writing at Pearl Lemon as it reminded me just how fun it can be but also how much I have to learn, making it another potential career path.

Even sales piqued my interest despite never really trying it myself and only hearing about it from others. If I had more time, I definitely would’ve leaned into it a bit more, but it is an option that I never would’ve considered if not for this internship.

The point is if you go in with a clear goal, you will get much more out of your experience as I did.

Another important factor when I applied for Pearl Lemon was a company where my presence would actually have a tangible effect on the company’s trajectory, and this was the case here.

I didn’t want to be given meaningless tasks to fill time or left twiddling my thumbs, I wanted to be integrated into the company’s workflow, which I got – a lot of deadlines, projects, and responsibilities.

Some were handed to me, some I chose myself but either way, these tasks made it so dull or stale are the last 2 words I can use to describe my experience here.

Variation and excitement do come with some risks though. It was far from a smooth ride; my time management and prioritizing improved dramatically over the past few months. 

Doing this even part-time along school was challenging and there were times when one side would overwhelm the other, leading to some decline but the team was supportive every step of the way.

They gave me tips and tools to help with my time management, offered to lighten my workload if need be, and overall just made sure I was alright in and out of work which was deeply appreciated.

In fact, the team was one of the best parts of the whole experience. As I mentioned, everyone was open and willing to help or answer any questions you had. 

I already had experience with remote work, but adapting to the international reach of Pearl Lemon was certainly new but also enlightening.

There is a clear and purposeful deviation from the silo mentality of other corporations, instead encouraging crossover between different sectors, people and even countries. This is most evident in the weekly meetings where the topics could range from concentrated internal affairs to just casual talks about people’s lives both inside and outside work.

These really helped you get a feel for the team’s personality and made them more than just an indistinguishable body of people.

This team culture is a trickle-down of Deepak, the founder, and his seemingly unlimited nuggets of wisdom and life experience. His constant striving for self-improvement and improvement of the company as a whole is inspiring and definitely pushed me to do better both within and outside the company.

Altogether my experience here was terrific.

• Education-wise, it has supplemented my theoretical understanding of businesses and marketing with practical experience.
• Employability-wise, it has cultivated my pre-existing skill set, but it has also given me new ones to add to my repertoire.

And in the grand scheme of life, it has just opened my eyes to many things and lessons, making it immensely fulfilling and an easy recommendation for anyone looking for such an enriching experience.