Dear next beautiful intern,

Since today’s my last day at Beautiful World and you have yet to start work, this letter is the best way I could think of to do some kind of a handover to you.

I won’t be going through all the ins and outs of working here. The partners of Beautiful World don’t suffer fools gladly and they all come with built-in bullshit detectors. That’s why I’m confident whoever they pick as the next intern will be a pretty clued up person to figure it all out.

What I will do is flesh out my version of the beautiful intern specification and share some of my experience, in the hope that you can use it to make the most out of your time here.

First of all, you have to bring something to the table, like an opinion. If it also makes the partners laugh, it’s a real treat. Their laughter is infectious and it’s the best thing you could hear in the agency, other than news of winning pitches, raising millions for good causes and getting paid.

Therefore, having a sense of humour helps tremendously, because working for the greater good does make you want to tear your hair out sometimes.  Add to that bags of unwavering enthusiasm and you will never lose sight of why you’re really here.

Take initiative. Roll up your sleeves and do as much work as is humanly possible. When you’re done, ask for more. While the partners can do the tasks given to you much better and faster than you can, they sometimes forget that they have way too much on their plate. You’re here to help, so help them. You’re also here to learn, and I guarantee you’ll learn a lot by getting stuck in.

The great thing about working in Beautiful World is that you even get to run a few ideas of your own. If it wasn’t for me, the beautiful pouffe would still be called a footstool.

Other very useful skills to have are great attention to detail, being highly organised and super efficient, as well as making a gorgeous cup of tea/coffee.

Upon reflection, here are a few highlights from my experience:

Best moments
I know it sounds cliché, but it has to be everyday at Beautiful World. There aren’t many places where you go to work happy and leave work happy, so I’m one very lucky intern.

Greatest challenge
Deciphering Rachel’s handwritten notes.

Biggest regret
Making horrendous coffee for our beautiful visitors. It’s a fact I’ve learnt only recently and I fear the coffee could have been the deal breaker for some of our new business pitches. The partners might have to invest in a ‘million pound coffee maker’. No wait, that’s Adam.

What I’ve learnt
The past few times I’ve been asked the all important question, I couldn’t give a straight answer. I can only hope the words ‘muppet’ and ‘tosser’ didn’t spring to mind.

Some key discoveries:

• The kettle takes years to boil
• Chas and Dave
• ‘Quick’ and ‘dirty’ are words you can also use to describe data

In all seriousness, I’ve learnt more than just recency, frequency, value and not to mention, propensity models.   A lot of what I take from the internship is through observing how the partners all work together and how effective they are in conjuring up really great solutions for the challenges that clients have.  It’s been a great eye-opener and a huge inspiration for me to do the same, if not better.

I’m really grateful to have had the chance to work with the partners of Beautiful World, and to Simon for relinquishing creative control over this letter. They’re really nice people and I know you’ll like them as much as I do.

I do hope that I’ve left Beautiful World a little bit better, more organised and a livelier place to work in and my wish for you is that you will make Beautiful World better in your own way too.

Finally, if any of the partners threaten to superglue you to your chair at the end of your internship to keep you here, it might not be such a bad idea to say yes to that.

Sincerely,

Rebekah