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How HLabs empowers the next generation by fostering university partnerships and internship programs
A Graphic Design graduate of Kingston University herself, Han always knew that when she built an agency of her own she wanted to tap into the incredible energy and talent present in these classrooms.
Fast forward a few years and through building strong relationships with course leaders and continuing to present guest lectures, HLabs now has numerous full-time team members who’ve graduated from these three programs.
Encouraging and facilitating the next generation of graduates to take their first steps in the design industry, and watching them grow into highly skilled and professional colleagues is a key part of our journey and one we look forward to continuing in the future.
The latest intern to join HLabs for a four-week placement was Ying Xuan Ling from Condé Nast College. Here’s what Ying made of her time with us!
Creative intern, Ying's design for Barbie related campaign where we turned the entire HLabs team into dolls for the day
1. Tell us what you got up to during your HLabs internship...
I had the opportunity to do a one-month placement as the Marketing Intern. It was part of my college curriculum at Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design where each student is required to complete a one-month placement of their choice.
As the Marketing Intern at HLabs, my responsibilities include planning, creating and managing branded content on HLabs’ LinkedIn page. All content has to uphold the brand identity of HLabs to find and attract new leads. I also got to help out the Editorial Team with the Editorial Style Guide.
The month was filled with lots of learning opportunities and support from the team. Special shoutout to my amazing buddy Andiana!
2. How has this internship helped your professional skills?
This internship has allowed me to unlock new skills while brushing up on the skills I already had. This includes the analytical skills needed when looking at the data of each social post, spotting trends before strategising future content, communication skills to help me better integrate myself into the team within the short time frame and adapting to HLabs’ internal systems. I also picked up hard skills such as using the software Figma which I had never heard of before this placement and gained a basic understanding of what can be done on no-code platforms like Ceros and Webflow. I can definitely see myself putting all this knowledge and experiences to use in the future as well as I venture into the workforce.
3. What did you enjoy the most about your internship?
Tough question. There are just too many to choose from. If I had to pick one, I would say seeing the content I created from start to finish doing well on LinkedIn. I was given a lot of freedom in terms of content ideation, experimenting with different types of content such as the Barbie avatars to introduce the team, a carousel post about 3D designs and gifs to showcase clients’ feedback. For me, it’s fun to come up with ideas, create them myself and see things through even though it was a slight challenge picking up Figma on the spot.
4. Has your experience here matched your expectations?
For sure! I came in wanting to gain experience in social media marketing and content creation but what I have learned at HLabs far exceeded my expectations. I was able to dive deep into business-to-business marketing and LinkedIn marketing which, in my opinion, is an underrated topic when being taught in school. I also got to dabble in copywriting by helping out the Editorial Team. This internship has allowed me to experience the best of three worlds within the creative industry — marketing, designing, and copywriting. Having the chance to compare them side by side gave me a clearer idea of what I’d like to pursue in my career.
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5. In terms of growth, do you feel ready to take on a professional role in the creative industry after this experience?
Yes! During this one-month internship, I was given a lot of responsibilities. At no point did I feel that I was there just as an intern but as an active member of the team, contributing and taking on important tasks. With the guidance and training provided by the team throughout my time at HLabs, I am now more confident in taking on marketing, designing and copywriting roles.
Interning at HLabs has also given me insights into what goes on behind the scenes in a design agency, understanding the different roles within the operations system and how everyone plays their part to make a project a success. All these better equip and prepare me for a professional role in the creative industry.
At HLabs, we are always looking for amazing new talent to bring fresh ideas to our growing team. Please reach out to hannah@hlabs.co.uk or tap the button below with your CV and dream job role and we'll take it from there. It only takes one email!
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