The last (and current) job that I have is a Marketing and Fan Engagement intern position for OSU Athletics. My motivation for applying for this position was mostly due to my passion for athletics and eagerness to gain experience in the field before I graduated. That being said, I was already very interested in the position after being told about it verbally by a friend, thus the job description itself did not affect my decision to apply very much. What the job description did do, however, was give me a clearer idea as to what I would be able to experience within the job.
I applied for this position in January 2019, only a few months before the pandemic hit. I was informed that I got the position that March while in lockdown. Unfortunately, due to the lack of fans at events (and sporting events occurring in general), my experience with this job was close to nothing compared to what the job description said. Many of the task statements were related to attending sporting events with fans, and due to COVID regulations, I was not actually able to attend any events at all. Instead, my boss redid the position to still allow the internship to happen at all, focusing on helping us build our marketing portfolios and prepare us for the workforce by teaching us how to build an effective marketing plan and gain skills such as Photoshop and Illustrator. These are things that I may not have been able to learn and experience if the pandemic had not affected the scope of the job.Perhaps the only similarity was that I still got to attend office hours weekly and provide general office assistance as needed.
Overall, I never could have predicted what my experience has been with this job. Some of the competencies listed still applied and were expected, but as far as actual tasks, my experience was completely different that what I had initially applied for.
