Oakland University Internship - Account/CX

About SSDM

SSDM is a growth marketing agency in Troy, Michigan. Our purpose is to become our clients’ most valuable partner, growing ourselves so we can grow those around us. Interns work alongside experienced professionals and contribute to meaningful agency assignments.

How We Work

Fearless Failure: We explore, test, learn and try again. Team members are encouraged to share ideas, accept useful feedback and treat mistakes as information that improves the next attempt.

Radical Transparency: We communicate directly and put relevant information on the table, especially when conversations are difficult. Everyone has the opportunity and responsibility to speak honestly and respectfully.

Safety and Trust: Our environment supports candid participation, thoughtful experimentation and accountability. We value growth over comfort and expect team members to listen, contribute and follow through.

The Opportunity

The Account and Client Experience Intern supports the relationship and project management side of our agency. This internship is designed for someone who communicates well, enjoys understanding people and business problems, and wants hands on exposure to account service, project management, research and performance reporting.

• Focus: account service, client experience and project management
• Location: In person at SSDM in Troy, Michigan
• Commitment: Minimum of 12 weeks and 150 total hours, approximately 12.5 hours per week
• Compensation: Academic credit is available. The initial internship is unpaid. Strong performance may lead to paid hours or a paid extension based on business need, but paid work is not guaranteed.
• Internship Periods: Winter, January through early April, and summer, May through early August, based on business need
• Supervision: An experienced SSDM professional will be assigned as the intern’s site supervisor before the internship begins

What You Will Do

• Support account and client experience team members with meeting preparation: updating client project trackers, creating client conference reports that summarizes meeting notes, follow-up items and next steps. Help manage and organize client requests, timelines, deliverables, approvals and status updates using Wrike, our project management tool, and proactively follow up with internal team members on due dates and status
• Pull and organize data from social analytics, CRM and web care/maintenance tools to help keep client dashboards and trackers current
• Review marketing performance information and help turn data into clear client-ready observations
• Conduct client, industry, audience and competitor research to support account strategy and content planning
• Assist with quality assurance to confirm work is accurate, complete, and ready for internal or client review
• Observe client meetings and take notes to learn how strong account teams listen, identify concerns and keep work moving
• Use agency project management and communication tools to document information and maintain visibility. Help manage and coordinate across account, creative, media and web teams to keep projects on task and information visible and up-to-date in our systems
• Contribute to internal projects and other agency priorities as assigned

What You Will Learn

• How agency account teams connect client goals, strategy, execution and reporting
• How to communicate professionally with clients and internal specialists
• How scope timelines, budgets and approvals affect successful delivery
• How to read performance data and explain what it means in plain language
• How to identify risks ask useful questions and escalate concerns early

Qualifications

• Junior or senior pursuing a degree in marketing, advertising, public relations, communications, English, psychology, business, hospitality or a related field
• Strong interpersonal listening writing and organizational skills
• Comfort working with numbers, research and basic performance data
• Professional judgment and discretion with client and company information
• Attention to detail and the ability to capture information accurately
• A service mindset developed through customer service, hospitality, sales, campus leadership or similar experience is valued
• Ability to work independently while asking for direction when needed
• Driven curious reliable and receptive to direct feedback
• Ability to use software tools like google analytics, social media and project management tools

Internship Structure and Support

• Interns complete professional duties related to communication, marketing or digital media, with training and mentoring from an experienced SSDM site employee.
• Each placement has specific beginning and ending dates aligned with the applicable academic semester and includes at least 150 hours over 12 weeks.
• For Oakland University CJPR credit, the intern maintains a time log. The SSDM site employee reviews and signs it for submission to the Internship Advisor at the midpoint and end of the semester.
• SSDM completes Oakland University's midpoint evaluation at six weeks and final evaluation at 12 weeks, while providing constructive feedback and mentoring throughout the placement.
• Assignments are selected to help the intern produce professional work samples for an online portfolio. SSDM will provide appropriate supervision and review before any client-related work is shared publicly.
• SSDM supplies the materials and tools required for assigned work. Interns will not be asked to incur out-of-pocket expenses for the internship.
• Work is completed at SSDM's business premises or on an approved off-site assignment.

What Success Looks Like

Successful interns arrive prepared, ask thoughtful questions, communicate early when they need help and complete work with care. They are receptive to direct feedback, show steady improvement and earn greater responsibility by demonstrating timeliness, reliability and initiative. Also, the ability to manage project deadlines and work on-time and successfully with clear communication and updates both to team and through Wrike.

*All application questions must be completed to be considered for an interview.