Most marketing internships promise a lot. In practice, many come down to observation, admin and watching other people do the interesting work.
At Threesides, we take a different approach. We are a full-service digital marketing agency based in Dickson, Canberra. When an intern joins our team, they work alongside us on real marketing challenges – supported, guided and involved from the start.
We are also upfront about what the placement involves and what you need to have in place before you get in touch. That includes some important context around vocational placements and the Fair Work Act, which we cover below.
What a placement at Threesides looks like
From the start, you will work alongside our team across a range of marketing tasks. On any given week, that might include:
- Writing – blogs, newsletters, website copy and print content for our clients.
- Social media – helping design and schedule content calendars for our clients.
- Briefing – working with our designers, digital team and suppliers.
- Support – assisting managers to deliver marketing and content plans.
- Coordination – projects, research, meetings and workshops.
- General support – from media releases to client communications and day-to-day admin.
Agency marketing covers a lot of ground. Our interns get exposure to all of it, which gives you a clearer sense of where your skills sit and where you want to take them.
What we are looking for in an intern
We get a lot of enquiries about internships, but we can only take a select few. To be considered for an internship at Threesides we need:
- Your internship to be a genuine requirement of your course. Under the Fair Work Act, an unpaid marketing internship in Canberra or anywhere in Australia is only lawful when it forms part of a formal vocational placement. This means the placement must be a genuine requirement of your course at a university or registered training organisation (RTO) so check this with your course convenor before applying. For official guidance on unpaid work arrangements and vocational placements, visit the Fair Work Ombudsman’s unpaid work fact sheet.
- You need to be studying in a related field but it doesn’t have to be marketing. Many of our interns come from marketing, communications or public relations backgrounds. However, we also work with IT and web development students when there is a project relevant to their studies, and with media or journalism students who are focused on the content and writing side of what we do.
- Curiosity and a willingness to work across more than one area of the business. We are a small but busy team of 10 and we expect our interns to shadow different team members to really understand how we profile end-to-end services to our clients. If you are only interested in one specific area of marketing, we are not the agency for you, look for a larger agency that specialises in the area of marketing you are interested in.
- Professional attitude and values driven. As an intern you are representing the Threesides brand and just like an employee, you are expected to always uphold the Threesides values. These values are:
- We love what we do
- We are down to earth
- We care a lot
- We know our stuff
- We are dreamers, explorers and doers
- We value connection
A few things worth knowing before applying
If any of the following applies, have a good think if we are the right agency for you:
- Film and video production focus – we are a digital marketing agency and most of our video work is outsourced. There is exposure to content production, but this is not a video-first environment.
- Extended breaks ahead – what you learn in your internship is best remembered if you can apply your learnings soon after, so, if you have a gap year or long break coming up after your placement, is this really the right time to be doing your internship?
- Narrow/specific skill or industry focus – if you are looking to specialise in one area of marketing right now or a specific industry e.g. fashion marketing, the breadth of what we do here may not align with where you are in your studies. We would encourage you to do further research on the agencies both in Canberra and outside of Canberra to find an agency that specialises in your area of interest.
The path from intern to employee
Several of our team members started as Threesides interns. Some of our coordinators and managers came through the same pathway. The step from intern to Marketing Coordinator is real and something we actively work towards with the right people.
Our join the team page has the full role descriptions alongside the internship EOI form, so you can get a sense of where a placement here might take you.
Still interested?
If this sounds like the right environment for your placement, we would love to hear from you.
Head to our join the team page and submit an internship expression of interest. Tell us about yourself, share any examples of your work – a university assignment, a social account you manage, or content you have created for a workplace or community group – and let us know what you are hoping to get from your time with us.