How to Turn Your Marketing Internship into a Full-Time Job
Paige Spencer ’26, center, with Office Interiors Limited President Ellen Bates, left, and Director of Design Erin King at the company’s Dover, New Hampshire, office.
Heading into her final semester, marketing student Paige Spencer '26 was looking for an internship where she could gain real-world experience while completing her senior capstone project, which challenges students to help a business improve its marketing efforts.
At the same time, Ellen Bates, president of Dover-based Office Interiors Limited, attended a meeting where Cayce Jones, director of UNH Paul College Career and Professional Success, spoke about the value interns can bring to small businesses.
Bates decided it was time to act. Her women-led commercial interior design and furniture firm needed someone who could "change its marketing game."
Office Interiors then posted the internship on employment website Handshake seeking its own version of Emily in Paris—the Netflix series about a young marketing professional documenting her experiences on social media.
What followed was a perfect match. Spencer turned the internship into a full-time marketing coordinator position while helping the 40-year-old company modernize its digital presence.
Step 1: Get Their Attention
Rather than applying through the posting, Spencer reached out directly to Bates with her qualifications and a creative video introducing herself.
"She showed initiative by figuring out who I was and emailing me directly. On top of that, she created a video of herself from locations around the world, including the Eiffel Tower. We had specifically encouraged applicants to stand out in the posting — to be creative and show us who they were — and Paige did that in full force,” Bates says.
Spencer didn't want to be just another applicant. Instead, she focused on getting in front of the people making the hiring decision.
“As soon as I saw the opportunity, I thought, 'This seems like a great company, I need to meet them,'" Spencer says.
Step 2: Solve a Problem
Office Interiors had an inconsistent social media presence and a website that didn't fully showcase its work. Spencer tackled both.
Paige Spencer
“When I started, there was an opportunity to modernize the company’s digital presence and better showcase its work,” Spencer says. “We refreshed social media, focused on growing our audience, and from there, my role expanded into broader marketing and brand strategy.”
One of Spencer's proudest achievements was rebuilding the company's website from scratch—even though she had never designed one before.
She taught herself the process through online tutorials and experimentation, then focused on creating a more visual website that used photos and video to better showcase Office Interiors' work.
"The website was a big win. We're always busy doing great work, and we have so much talent and so many projects to showcase,” says Erin King, director of design at Office Interiors. “Paige took that content and turned it into something worthy of a website. We worked together to gather the photos, and she pulled it all together. I think it's one of our best tools because people don't cold call anymore. The website is our face — it's our cold call."
Bates and King say Spencer struck a balance between collaboration and initiative. She wasn't afraid to ask questions, but she was equally comfortable taking ownership of new projects.
"It became obvious during her internship that when she graduated, we had to keep her. There was no question about it," Bates says.
Step 3: Keep Expanding Your Value
Building the company's new website was only the beginning. In her full-time role, Spencer continued expanding Office Interiors' marketing efforts by developing a social media strategy centered on three content pillars: educating customers about the design process, showcasing completed projects, and giving followers a behind-the-scenes look at the company's culture.
Her role also grew beyond digital marketing. She began tracking marketing analytics, representing Office Interiors at networking events, and helping plan company initiatives, including its upcoming 40th anniversary celebration and fundraiser.
"I liked social media and content marketing. Now that I'm doing it, I kind of love all parts of marketing," Spencer says. "We wear a lot of different hats. But I love it. No day is the same."
Bates says Spencer's willingness to keep learning has benefited both her career and the company. The new website and her broader marketing efforts have already generated new business and helped raise Office Interiors' profile.
"Paige is becoming the face of Office Interiors when it comes to marketing," Bates says. "She's representing us at networking events and with the organizations we're involved in, in addition to everything she does in the office. We're asking a lot of her."
Looking back, Spencer says her biggest piece of advice is to treat the internship search like the first step in your career
“Research the company first and make sure it’s a place where you can see yourself growing,” Spencer says. “Then go all in. Find ways to stand out, take initiative, and look for problems you can help solve. Don’t just treat an internship like something to put on your résumé, treat it like the first step in your career.”