We sat down with Julia Champagne to ask her about her Marketing Internship at Timberline Construction. 

1. What have you learned by interning at Timberline Construction?

While interning at Timberline Construction I have learned a lot of things, but the most interesting to me was the proposal process. Though you touch on what writing and submitting proposals will be like in college, getting to experience what it is like when applied to a real company was completely different. I learned how proposals are assembled, planned, written, and submitted and what the thought process that goes into each one is. I had never gotten to write a proposal outside of a homework assignment before, so I never realized what an in depth and fast paced job it is. It was great to be able to experience it for myself and get a better understanding of what the real life best practices are.

2. How would you describe our company culture?

I would describe the company culture of Timberline as being very welcoming. Coming into a company as an intern, I was nervous that it would be difficult to get to know people or ask for help, but right from day one everyone I worked with was always very friendly and willing to help me with anything. Timberline was a job that I looked forward to going to everyday because the people I worked with made the job extremely rewarding and fun.

3. Did your internship meet your expectations?

My internship exceeded my expectations with how much I was able to do and experience. When I was applying for internships, I thought that I would mostly just get to assist with office chores while occasionally helping with Marketing, but at Timberline I was able to really get involved in projects and get real world experience I didn’t think an internship would offer. I looked forward to the job every day because the projects were interesting and exciting to work on. Working at Timberline as my first internship has definitely set a high bar for any future jobs I will do.

4. What skills did you gain by interning at Timberline?

I gained a lot of skills while working at Timberline including writing proposals, social media posting, event planning, and photo editing. Timberline gave me the opportunity to gain the hands-on experience that a lot of internships lack by allowing me to be involved in projects and freely ask questions about anything. In the short time I have worked at Timberline, I have been able to be involved in all types of marketing including creating videos, going on site and taking photos, writing PR related articles, and the proposal process. I was able to wear so many hats throughout my internship which has helped me to find out what areas of marketing I enjoy working in.

5. What would you tell someone if they asked you about Timberline?

A lot of my friends have asked me about Timberline this summer and I always talk about how much I enjoy the team and the culture. Even though the work can be challenging at times, working with the team makes the job easy to enjoy. I always felt like I could talk to anyone and ask any questions because everyone is so welcoming. No matter what department they work in, you never feel like you can’t talk to them. Being able to talk to anyone has allowed me to learn a lot about every department of the company. It is a company where you can learn a lot and be part of really rewarding work.

6. How were your skills aligned with the work that you did?

The work that I did at Timberline was a wide scope of different kinds of Marketing, so it allowed me to work with skills that I had used in projects before, while also developing new skills I had never even considered trying prior to the job. I was able to utilize things I had learned in college such as video, writing, and editing while learning to apply them to real life situations such as proposal submission or social media postings. Marketing is a career that has so many different paths it can be daunting to find out what you want to do when you are just starting. While working at Timberline, I was able to try so many different things that I feel more confident in what I want to do in the future and what skills I want to continue to develop.