INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

During my marketing and public relations internship at 6PM, I was a senior at Hawaii Pacific University, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications, with a minor in Multimedia. I applied for the internship with hopes of gaining experience in the field and learning how to apply my degree in the workplace.

I gained lots of experience while working with my supervisor and became familiar with working in Marketing and PR. While with 6PM, I assisted with drafting social media strategies for clients, reviewed case studies, and researched media outlets for clients in all types of industries. It was especially helpful to be allowed to move around different departments to get familiar with various disciplines within one marketing firm.

A particularly valuable assignment was when I put together a social media strategy for a construction company. I performed a social media analysis, researched clients’ competition and analyzed its social media, researched current social media business strategies, and planned a month’s worth of content.

During my time at 6PM, I learned how to develop media strategies and fully understand clients’ individual needs. I assembled presentations and researched reports to gain a deeper understanding of the media industry, as well as social media for businesses. Media strategy requires a lot more attention to detail and in-depth perspectives of clients’ needs.

I learned how to operate under tight deadlines, conducted thorough research of clients, and improved my communication skills, as well as my work ethic. From learning to increase my communication skills to digging deeper with online research and developing stronger media strategies, 6PM gave me a lot of knowledge on the industry. When working on projects, supervisors provided constructive feedback to augment my learning, for which I was grateful.

One day I hope to run my own marketing agency, and I am thankful for the mentorship and knowledge I gained while interning at 6PM. I would definitely recommend this internship to anyone looking to gain experience within the marketing, communication or media industry. You will get lots of hands-on experience for real clients and work on real projects that will have real impacts.

I grew up on Kauaʻi and later attended Kamehameha Kapālama from the seventh to the twelfth grade. I have always been interested in marketing, creating posters for family events and starting my own businesses at a very early age with help from family – including an ice-cream truck and an educational non-profit. My innate desire to be hands-on in the real world was a perfect match for 6PM’s internship.

My internship goal was to learn as much as possible about the marketing and PR world outside of the classroom. I also wanted to know how marketing specifically worked in Hawaii and how different clients are marketed to different demographics. I can gladly say my expectations were met. I never got bored and always had an interesting and new project which taught me a wide variety of skills.

My internship responsibilities included a lot of writing and creating copy, researching clients, and coming up with programming. I did social media analysis on regional shopping centers, prominent hotels, and auto dealerships. I also wrote copy for clients in the building industry, regional shopping centers, and special Hawaiian Language posts.
I am especially proud of the Hawaiian programming projects I worked on. I created content for regional shopping centers, prominent hotels, and some other extra copy for general use. I was able to create programming for King Kamehameha Day, Hawaiian Heritage Month, and future holidays.

While at 6PM, I have learned how to independently gather information, research a multitude of topics, create different content for a wide variety of industries, create information sheets for different clients, and contribute to meetings, case studies, and research projects. Through my internship, I became more self reliant and confident.

Whether I end up working at a medium or large company, opening my own business or non-profit, or joining local government, the 6PM internship helped me sharpen my skills and provided me with valuable connections for the future.

I recommend this intenship to anyone interested in marketing and PR because you will be able to do amazing work and see your work in the world, while also recieving feedback on how you could improve or what you did well.

Overall, the 6PM internship is one of the best learning experiences I have received throughout my life.

I graduated from James Campbell High School with honors and went on to attend Hawaii Pacific University to pursue a BA degree in Communication Studies and Practices. After taking preliminary courses, I quickly took an interest in the communications and marketing field.When I was advised about the 6 Pillars Marketing internship, I applied in hopes of not only learning about marketing, but also to confirm if this was the right field for me and apply what I had learned so far to actual projects.

I especially wanted to learn how social media marketing runs today and how marketing campaigns are created and executed. I worked on various projects and tasks that showed me how important it is to really understand the client and meet their specific needs in the content and campaigns you create for them.

My internship responsibilities included performing audits, giving suggestions for Instagram pages, updating websites, creating reposted content on social media, as well as assisting with various campaigns. While at first some tasks seemed mundane, I soon realized that everything that I did in the first few weeks prepared me for the bigger tasks and projects I took on later.

My experience was always interesting because I was often working on different clients and types of tasks. Specific projects that stood out were the monthly giveaways, events, and the Instagram reposts for various clients. I was also especially happy to work on a National Dog Month campaign, which I created for a shopping center, and to write captions for a shopping center’s major milestone event.

Because most of the work in this program was self-directed, it allowed me to hone and grow my communication, writing, and creative thinking skills. I’ve also learned how to manage my time better.

I recommend that future interns not be afraid to ask questions, mess up or even fail. I was scared to do so at first, trying to avoid embarrassment or harsh critique. However, the only way to learn is to be open to suggestions, work together, and be on the same page with your supervisor. Everyone at 6PM wants you to learn as much as possible about this field by maximizing your time and skills.

I grew up in Mililani, went to Hanalani Schools, and attended the University of Hawaii at West Oahu (UHWO), where I earned my BA in Business Administration in 2021. It was during my final year at UHWO that I interned with 6PM. I had many opportunities to work on social media projects, including collecting draft images, curating captions and hashtags, and creating inspirational story ideas. I especially enjoyed the opportunity to create holiday social media campaigns. I found great satisfaction being able to use my own ideas to create preliminary concepts. Other marketing activities included website evaluations, event planning stages, competitive reviews and evaluations of local media stations.

Overall, the internship was a great experience. I learned a lot about the different aspects of marketing and dealing with diverse clients. It helped me understand that there isn’t a “one size fits all” approach that can be taken. It is important to understand your client and their brand to create the best content. It was interesting for me to see firsthand how 6PM works to accommodate each client.

Perhaps the area where I grew the most was in my communication skills. Since this was a remote internship due to the pandemic, I would correspond daily with 6PM supervisors through email to check-in and receive my assignments. There would also be days that group projects were assigned. In the past, I did not have a lot of experience working on group projects and, in the beginning, it was a learning adjustment. In time, I grew to love working with my colleagues to complete assignments.

My long-term career goal is to one day build a business that incorporates a sustainable lifestyle brand involving fashion. I also have a love for animals and want to create a connection between animals and their owners through an eco-conscious brand. In the meantime, I look forward to taking what I’ve learned at 6PM to a small business where I can help them define their marketing goals.

I highly recommend the 6PM internship to other marketing students. I enjoyed every project assigned to me. Even if I wasn’t knowledgeable on a topic, it was an opportunity to learn and ask questions. Also, the company is very flexible with school schedules, and the supervisors are very helpful in giving guidance. I am so thankful to have had this valuable experience.

I learned about 6PM’s internship on the Handshake jobs/internship board and thought it was a good match for my major. While I missed the in-person interaction due to the pandemic, I found that it was still a great way to meet new people. I was able to work with other college students, as we were often given group assignments.

While interning, my responsibilities included auditing website pages and analyzing social media accounts, including assisting with campaigns, choosing photos and creating captions. I analyzed public relations statements and work, organized and created templates, and drafted campaign ideas. I also helped to communicate with shopping center tenants, as well as organize and set up meetings. I especially enjoyed creating social media campaign captions for holidays and contest giveaways. I was pleased to be able to use what I learned in my digital marketing elective class on website audit projects.

During the time that I interned, I worked extremely hard and learned to manage my time wisely. I learned that if I put in my best efforts, I would get rewarded. I gained many insights, including a better understanding of what clients need from a marketing agency.

Overall, the internship helped develop my work ethic and passion for creating ideas that I believed were worth presenting. I was able to put into action all that I learned in order to execute the proposed ideas/campaigns. The activities that I took on during the internship helped me excel in my classes. Also, the 6PM mentors were very helpful. If I ever needed assistance, they were always there to help me.

I moved to Hawaii from the Philippines in 2006 and grew up in Kalihi on the island of Oahu. Now, as I continue my life journey, I am able to apply the experience that I had at 6PM. I believe it has provided me with a solid foundation for the future. In the long-term, my goal is to work as a freelancer and a creative director for a firm.

I highly recommend the 6PM internship. Not only are you going to learn about marketing in general, but you will be able to work with the different marketing pillars as well. I encourage future 6PM interns to take risks and be confident. Take on the challenges and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

A local boy with island roots, my interests include fitness/health, nutrition, social media, graphic designs, marketing, and business management. Since 6PM retains a wide variety of clients from different industries, it provided me with a glimpse into the spectrum of marketing that can be applied to different types of clients. In the time I spent as an intern, I was able to build experience by learning how to meet the needs of different clients.

I was active in creating social media posts and updates, website development, social media analysis reports, market analysis reports, and metric reports. I was able to learn various aspects of social media platforms such as Instagram Reels and Facebook Live. I gained an in-depth understanding about how to target the right demographics and steps to making an effective caption for posts.

One particular project that stands out is the social media marketing I coordinated for the Hawaii division of a national brewing company. There are many moving parts when it comes to creating effective social media for a client. The task demands attention to detail. When creating an Instagram caption, it’s critical to follow the specific brand guideline, reflect accurate facts and details, and target the correct audiences. I had to consider previous and future posts as well for continuity. Each post required at least 20 appropriate hashtags. I learned just how pivotal hashtags are to expanding an Instagram audience, increasing engagement and elevating exposure. This is accomplished through careful research about which hashtags are popular and growing. Ultimately, I created a flowchart to manage the abundance of details. This assignment gave me my first real-world experience with the intricate process of social media marketing.

As a recent graduate with a BA in Business Administration, I look forward to applying my newly acquired marketing skills. While my short-term goal is to seek employment at a marketing firm where I can further develop my skills, my dream is to someday own my own business. I know that I will be propelled by what I’ve learned at 6PM, a locally owned, fast-paced and meticulous marketing company.

I would highly recommend the 6PM internship program to anyone who sees marketing in their future, especially those with an interest and passion for social media. If you stay focused, open-minded and creative, this opportunity will deliver a wide range of benefits. The 6PM internship is a perfect first step for any marketing career.