1) The author completed a 12-week internship with iSocko.com, a photography company located in Canfield, OH. 2) During the internship, the author assisted with office tasks like taking calls, scheduling appointments, updating the website and files. They also learned about managing client accounts and campaigns. 3) By the end of the internship, the author felt more comfortable with communication skills needed for client facing roles and office tasks like using Excel. The experience helped them prepare for future career opportunities.

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Fabio Perrotta
Internship Experience
Dr. Mary Beth Earnheardt
Internship – CMST 4896
August 1, 2016
Internship experience
Internships serve as a great tool to help those who are in college or outside of college
gain experience in a certain field that person has interest in. Internships give people the
opportunity to work in a professional setting and eventually go into that professional field with
their new skills and experience. Internships will help you prepare for the professional field of
work when the moment comes to move forward happens in your life. Internships can range from
a variety of different things. The internship could either be paid, unpaid, and the length of the
internship can range from many different time frames as well.
I had the amazing opportunity to do an internship with Socko Gaetano who owns the
company iSocko.com. iSocko.com is a photography company that was started by Socko
Gaetano. Socko’s office is located in Canfield, OH, which made the commute to the internship
very easy for me because I live in Youngstown. I was able to complete the internship within a
12-week period, starting from the middle of May to the beginning of August. The reason I chose
to do my internship with iSocko.com was because the company had the type of work I was
seeking after I graduated college. This included many different things that included office work

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and communications. I studied communications and human resources and I wanted to intern
somewhere that I could showcase the knowledge I gained.
I did not do the photography part with Socko, I did the office work with his assistant Lisa
and occasionally I would work with Socko. The office work included many different things such
as: taking new client calls, following up with clients, keeping up with paperwork and
appointments, keeping the website up to date, managing the campaigns used to advertise,
transferring files from one filing cabinet to another, making sure everything is updated on the
excel worksheets, creating new estimates and making sure the estimates are correct and up to
date, and finally, making sure the office is organized.
All of these tasks associated with the internship were very difficult to learn at first
because there was so much information that needed to be learned and a lot of upkeep associated
with these tasks. My first week at the internship was a little overwhelming because I walked in
on a day where it was very hectic with a lot of appointments set for that day. Socko and Lisa
showed me around the office and the equipment as well. There was not too much stuff other than
computers and cabinets that kept all the files. It was very interesting to see all the supplies and
equipment that was used in order to complete all of the tasks for the business, which included
materials used in the studio that Socko had.
Socko and Lisa showed me how they managed the accounts and the payments
made by the clients. Lisa began to let me take calls for the clients and answer the phone about
any adjustments to scheduling of the photoshoots. We did a lot of following up with the clients
and making sure they were pleased with the photos taken. Most likely Socko told me that I will
be managing certain accounts and working the payroll for his employees which right now was
just Lisa and his other intern that he had working with him. I was not paid for this internship.

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At this point, I am really enjoying the internship because I like the communications
aspect of the company. Which consists of contacting the clients, setting up appointments, going
through the steps of the process of doing the actual appointment and making sure the client is
pleased. I also like that Socko built this company by himself and operates by himself other than a
few employees that he has. I like the managing aspect of the company as well, which is
something that interests me since my minor is human resources.
Throughout the internship, when I would work on Monday’s I basically just followed
Socko around to pick up some supplies for his photoshoots. Monday’s were my shortest days, so
Lisa was able to handle a lot of the work in the office and Socko would just take me along with
him. I sat down with his assistant the other days of the week that I worked and I did more hands
on work with some of the sales the company was making. Socko also showed me some of prior
clientele that have come back for more photoshoots and would give them better deals on their
next photoshoot because they were loyal customers. Since some of the weeks would be slower
than others, his assistant and I were cleaning up and filing some paperwork that got a little
behind because of how busy we were previous weeks so it all balanced out in the end. It was
interesting to learn a little bit about the history of his company and how he started it. I definitely
understand how important it is to a business and reaching out to more clientele in order to retain
those clients.
I stayed with his assistant Lisa for most of the weeks that I worked. Lisa and I continued
to go over different accounts with clients and updating their accounts that we have with
them. Socko would grab me every so often and he would show me some of the commercials that
he used to produce in order to promote for his business and the campaign techniques that he
used. It was very interesting because I did not realize the amount of work that actually went into

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creating these campaigns. I was somewhat familiar with what he did during his campaign
because I recall some of the techniques from when I took the course, Social Media
Campaigns. As the weeks went on, I was definitely becoming more familiar with the format and
tasks that need done for Socko and his business. I really do enjoy this type of work as I
mentioned before because not only am I able to talk with clients all day and help them with their
services, I do enjoy making sales to the clients as well. I work in sales currently, so I knew the
proper things to say to customers to convince them about purchasing certain products and
packages. Socko and Lisa taught me specific techniques to upsell certain products that Socko
offers. Most of the work is starting to become second nature to me because a lot of the work is
repetitive, but it is never boring because there are so many clients that we deal with on a daily
basis.
These last few weeks were very hectic with Socko. A lot of people were making
appointments to have their senior pictures taken for the upcoming year so we had many clients
calling in every day to schedule appointments. I started to become a little overwhelmed with all
of the calls like how I was in the beginning of the internship but luckily his assistant Lisa was
working with me by my side and we were able to handle all of the calls that came in. I also
worked on his website a little bit helping update some of the information that has changed over
the summer, including pricing for the different packages.
The internship that I had completed with iSocko.com has been one of the greatest and
most memorable experiences that I have ever endured. Although work was tough some days, I
was able to learn how to handle all the stress in a timely manner so I did not overwhelm myself.
I could not have asked for a better internship experience. I gained so much knowledge in the type
of field that I want to enter once I start searching in the job market for a career. This internship

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has helped me reach many goals that I wanted to attain with my communication background
because I became very comfortable talking with clients and it started to just work out naturally
for me at the end. I can now use this as a valid reference when I am applying for jobs in the
future and list the skills, knowledge, and experience I have gained over this period of time. I
could not thank Socko and Lisa enough for providing this opportunity for me and helping me
through it. I am definitely more comfortable with certain aspects in an office setting, such as
working with excel, following with up clients, and overall gaining the communication skills that
I will utilize for many years to come.