Jasmine Chan was a recent graduate who completed her 10-month Career Edge paid internship at Pinch Social in 2016. The social media agency hired her as their Social Media & Communications Intern. Today, she’s a Customer Experience & Innovation Specialist at Northbridge Financial Corporation. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and Business in Speech Communication from the University of Waterloo.
Jasmine Chan, Customer Experience & Innovation Specialist, Northbridge Financial Corporation
How did you hear about Career Edge?
I first came to know about Career Edge during my third year of university via social media. I was scrolling through Twitter one day and stumbled upon Career Edge, and started to read more about the organization. It wasn’t until after I graduated from university that I engaged with the organization for employment opportunities!
Describe how you felt when you were hired as Pinch Social’s Social Media and Communications Intern?
Ecstatic! Pinch Social was the first and only place I interviewed after my video recording interview and phone interview with Marlies (Career Edge Talent Manager at the time). My in-person interview with Pinch Social founder Michelle went very well.
What did you learn at Pinch Social?
Since Pinch Social is a small boutique social media marketing agency, I learned a lot during my 10-month internship. It was an opportunity where I got to wear many hats, such as content writing, social media strategy, community management, analytics reporting, stakeholder relations, event planning… and the list goes on.
Fun fact: I was the first full-time employee hired by the founder.
Talk about your experience with the four pillars of the Career Edge paid internship (coaching/mentoring, work-integrated learning, knowledge transfer, networking).
The highlight of my experience was being part of the organizing team that brought back Social Media Week Toronto, a week-long conference dedicated to everything social media, digital marketing, and emerging technology. It was an incredible opportunity putting together conference programming and networking with local and global social media leaders.
Overall, my experience at Pinch Social was extremely meaningful – I gained industry knowledge and received mentorship from Michelle which was helpful as a new grad. I was NOT tasked to do coffee runs as an intern there, but instead tasked to deliver client work since day one and saw my impact to the agency almost immediately!
How has your Career Edge paid internship impacted your life?
This paid internship has provided me the opportunity to gain holistic work experience as a social media expert. I was able to take my learnings from this internship to later find freelance and career opportunities in similar fields.
What advice do you have for recent graduates?
Be open to change and new opportunities, learn as much as possible, and don’t be afraid to put your hand up for challenging projects!
Why should employers hire recent graduates?
We were all recent graduates once upon a time! Recent graduates today are smarter than ever – they are agile, know how to adapt to changes, and more importantly, ambitious and enthusiastic to begin their professional careers!