Darja Patlikova – a True Gem Among Interns at the Tallink Hotels Office

2024-08-21T10:42:35

Darja Patlikova, a student at Tallinn School of Economics, completed her spring internship as a marketing specialist in the Tallink Hotels office. Read more about her internship experience in the interview with Darja.

To start, please introduce yourself a bit. Why did you decide to do your internship with us?

I study marketing at the Tallinn School of Economics. Before coming to Tallink for my internship, I actively ran my TikToki and YouTube blog, where I have over 470,000 followers combined. I have always enjoyed creative activities and have been successful at them, but the aspects of business, sales, and marketing were more challenging for me. Therefore, I decided to study marketing to deepen my knowledge.

Where and how long were you interning with us?

I interned at Tallink Hotels for about two months.

Where do you study/have you studied, and what were your professional experiences before coming to Tallink for an internship?

I decided to intern at Tallink Hotels because it is part of the Tallink Group, one of the largest and most successful companies in Estonia. I wanted to gain experience in a large company and learn from the best in the field.

What tasks have you had to perform during your internship? Which of them have been the most challenging and which have you liked the most?

My first task was to compile a SWOT analysis of Tallink hotels and their competitors. I liked this task the most because I enjoyed analyzing and comparing. Then my supervisor, Kelli, introduced me to the platforms used by Tallink Hotels, showed me how the company’s work is organized, and what the marketing department does. The most challenging part was probably acquiring and using the large amount of information in the work.

What practical skills and experiences, not learned in school, have you gained during the internship?

During the internship, I understood how work and communication actually take place in a large company. I gained many practical skills that are not possible to learn through theory, such as using different marketing platforms, understanding internal processes, and communicating with different departments. These practical skills and experiences gave me a more comprehensive understanding of how marketing works in real life.

What are your career goals and dreams?

My dream is to continue developing my blog and help companies make their advertisements even more original and creative.

What advice and recommendations would you give to our future interns?

Try to get the maximum benefit from the internship. Listen carefully to supervisors and colleagues, actively participate in the work, and ask questions. Be sure to take notes during meetings and guidance sessions, as there is a lot of information and it is difficult to remember and absorb everything later. These notes will help you systematize knowledge and use it in the future. Don’t be afraid to show initiative and offer your ideas – this will help you stand out and gain more valuable experience.

Comment from the Internship Supervisor:

Darja is a prime example of what a good intern should be, adhering to agreements and always exceeding desired results. The brainstorming sessions during the internship resulted in real ideas that we used during the internship and continue to apply in our work now and in the future. No task was insurmountable and no problem too difficult; there was always an appropriate solution, collecting ideas and discussing to find a resolution. Even tasks that were new to her received excellent solutions, and she always managed to add the +1 that is characteristic of Tallink hotels.

Darja shared experiential knowledge with us about younger generations, video creation on various platforms, and the differences in the Estonian and Russian markets on TikTok, YouTube, and Meta landscapes. Darja operates in Estonian, Russian, and English, which is a significant advantage both in work and creative fields.

We wish Darja much success and give her the wind in her sails for the future. The first year of university has been successfully completed, and now only two years remain. If desired, we will always welcome Darja back with open arms for her second and third-year marketing internships.

If you feel that Darja could collaborate with your team or want to offer an internship for the next two years, write to Kelli.Mannik@tallink.ee and we will gladly share her contacts or get in touch with her via TikTok or Facebook.

Thank you, Darja, for creating unique experiences with us.