Three Months, Countless Impressions: My Internship at River Advice
August 22, 2024 | Shore Side Insights | Author: Lea Gehrig
Hello, my name is Lea, I am 21 years old and I am studying International Business Management (trinational). In the summer of 2024, I had the opportunity to do an internship in the Marketing and Digital Communications department at River Advice AG in their head office in Basel. Here in this blog I will share my experiences and impressions.
Why an internship at River Advice?
As part of my degree, I have the opportunity to complete a 3-month internship every summer to gain practical experience.
I have to admit, I knew nothing about River Advice at first. When I was looking for an internship in the tourism industry, I came across River Advice by coincidence. After a quick look at the website, I was fascinated by the diverse areas of their expertise. The river cruise industry was completely new ground for me – or rather “new water” – and so I was convinced right from the start that I would gain a lot of exciting insights and new knowledge here.
My spontaneous application was followed by a job interview and I was actually able to start my internship on July 1, 2024. I was truly excited!
Expectations vs. Reality
I was expecting an internship where I could apply my theoretical knowledge in practice and gain deep insights into the world of marketing. And I was not disappointed. An internship at River Advice is much more than just making coffee and copying. The marketing department is small but excellent. Here I was perceived and valued as a fully-fledged team member. I was able to take on important tasks and actively contribute my opinion. I was warmly welcomed into the team right from the start and there was always a positive and supportive atmosphere.
As River Advice mainly operates in the B2B sector, my internship was not a classic marketing internship as you would find in textbooks. Employer branding and internal and external communication play a much more central role in this marketing department.
What I have been up to in my internship
No two days were the same. As part of the United Waterways Group, I gained insights into various marketing projects from many partner companies and was able to play an active role in shaping their marketing image. This made my everyday life varied and always action-packed. The international collaboration with colleagues from Cyprus, Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands and England was particularly interesting (although with occasional challenges). To thrive in this environment, mutual understanding and a certain openness to other cultures and ways of working are crucial. Clear and open communication is also essential in order to work together successfully and achieve common goals.
As a representative of Gen Z, my opinion was particularly in demand when it came to social media topics. One of my main tasks during my internship was to develop and implement a social media concept for a partner company. I really enjoyed this process – from planning to design to posting. I had a lot of freedom, was able to be authentically creative and at the same time received a lot of support.
My Conclusion: Growth and Development
Over the past three months, I have not only been able to gain many professional skills, but also learn a lot about the entire river cruise industry specifically and the tourism sector as a whole. In addition, this internship has also contributed to my personal development. In particular, I was encouraged to be proactive and independent. You should definitely have these qualities if you too aspire to do a marketing internship at River Advice. A little creativity doesn’t hurt either😉. If these qualities apply to you and you are looking for a distinct internship, I can undoubtfully recommend River Advice to you. Perhaps you too will find something valuable here.
Lea Gehrig