My internship at Spotted by Locals

Hi! My name is Christos, I’m 24 years old and almost done with my Master’s in New Media & Digital Culture at Utrecht University. If you have been following Spotted by Locals, there is a good chance that you’ve seen some of my work on their social media profiles.

It all began when I was looking for an internship which constitutes the last part of my Master’s programme. However, finding one wasn’t as easy as I expected. After weeks and weeks of searching, I finally came across Spotted by Locals. Being a travel lover myself I immediately grasped their concept and vision and sent an application. A few days later, Bart contacted me, we conducted a Skype interview, talked about my tasks and that was it! I was officially part of Spotted by Locals. What stood out to me was that Bart really seemed to appreciate my creative drive. My only assets were some experience in video creation and editing, a solid knowledge of the new media arena and loads of appetite for work.

So what was my role? In essence, my internship at Spotted by Locals was twofold. I was responsible for the management of our Flipboard account. I updated all the existing magazines and created new ones rendering the profile into a Publisher’s one. What I liked about this process was that I kept seeing results every single day. Apart from checking analytics, I was able to unfold my creativity in curating and managing content, which proved to be a bit of a hidden passion to me.

But my main role during these three months has been the creation of three promotional campaign videos. Of course, being an aspiring yet amateur videographer, that was the first time that such task was assigned to me. I had to take into account a number of parameters in order to deliver well thought, carefully shot and professionally edited material. What really fascinated me about this process was that I explored and discovered loads of technical capabilities that I didn’t know I possessed. But most of all, I managed to expand my video creation and editing skills. You see, getting this job was a real challenge for me. I had to prove both to Bart and myself that I am capable of delivering high caliber videos. And, well, I think that eventually Bart’s trust (and patience!) paid off.

All in all, I believe that my experience working for Spotted by Locals, albeit working from distance, has taught me a lot about what it means to work in a professional environment with equally professional demands. I have also learned to pay attention to every detail, because that’s what makes the difference! However, what I appreciated the most was Bart’s trust to my (sometimes overly) ambitious ideas, organisational abilities and enthusiasm for creative twists.

Funny story: My story with Spotted by Locals unfolded in 4 cities:

1. Utrecht: I was there studying when I sent my internship application
2. Lisbon: The Skype interview took place when I was there on a trip
3. Amsterdam: I moved to the Dutch capital shortly after I began working for Spotted by Locals. Shot a video there too.
4. Athens: My hometown and where Sanne & Bart are regularly too. Also shot a video here!

Looking for a distance / remote internship yourself? Check out what we can offer!