The Cowrywise Ambassador Internship Program: The Journey So Far

The internship at Cowrywise helped me understand the different career paths I was interested in and in no time showed me my strengths and where I needed to work more on. With the internship, I was sure about roles I never wanted to venture into and was able to build a career map which is now very instrumental to my current role. 

Just after the internship, I went back to school and got three different job offers, which was mind-blowing and surreal. First of all, I was recommended by a colleague who trusted my work. I also picked up numerous certifications and of course, I learned transferable skills that are very evident and useful to my growth. I’m a lot more confident in my abilities, and it feels like a rinse-and-repeat cycle. From my experience, I’ve also been able to help other growth enthusiasts get started on their journey. 

I learned many things from the internship which remain useful to me till date. Paying attention to details, how to work better in teams, working without supervision and delivering quality; all these are things I picked up at Cowrywise. My self-leadership skill was sharpened and this still plays a huge role in my success today. 

Looking back, my career growth would not even be possible without the Cowrywise internship. The opportunity helped me grow faster than I could have imagined. The internship fast-tracked my career progression. I got my current role based on the experience I gained during my internship and I’ve had a great time here.

Before my internship, I had dabbled into various career paths, unsure of what direction to take. I have always been interested in writing but had never seriously considered it as a career. During my internship, I was given the opportunity to work on various writing projects including creating blog posts, website content, and social media posts. As I worked on these projects, I discovered that I truly enjoyed writing and felt that I had found my voice as a content writer. The experience helped me understand the skills and knowledge required to be a successful writer and gave me the confidence to pursue it as a profession. The internship not only provided me with hands-on experience in content writing. It also exposed me to the different facets of the industry. I was able to learn about content strategy, SEO, and social media marketing, which further solidified my decision to pursue content writing as a profession.

After my internship at Cowrywise, a lot of positive changes happened in my career and personal life. Firstly, I was able to secure a job immediately after the internship. Though I was initially scared, I knew I could do it and I just needed to have faith in myself. The experience and skills I gained during the internship helped me excel in my new role and build a strong foundation for my career. During the internship, I also had the opportunity to explore in growth marketing which broadened my skillset and helped me move from being a content writer to a content marketer. This opened up more opportunities for me in the job market and expanded my professional horizons.

My confidence also skyrocketed after the internship, thanks to the experiences and skills I gained during my time at Cowrywise. I had the opportunity to plan and host the Google Developer Group Lagos (GDG Lagos )Devfest Lagos event twice, which is the biggest developer event in Africa with a total number of 4000 attendees. This helped me develop my public speaking skills and increase my visibility within the tech community. Every promotional content we put out was done by me. I also managed the social media page while we grew from 6000 followers on Twitter to 19.3k followers; our Instagram also grew from 0 to over 2000 followers.

Looking back, I can definitely tie a direct link from my internship at Cowrywise to where I am now in my career. The internship provided me with a solid foundation and skill set in content writing and marketing, which has been instrumental in my career growth. After the internship, I secured a job in content marketing where I was able to apply the skills and knowledge I gained during the internship. I was able to use my writing and marketing skills to create compelling content and increase brand awareness for my clients. This experience helped me to develop my professional network and establish myself as a skilled content marketer.

The internship at Cowrywise fast-tracked my career progression in many ways. Prior to the internship, I had limited experience in content writing and marketing, and I was not sure what career path I wanted to pursue. However, the internship gave me hands-on experience and training in content writing and marketing, which helped me to gain the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in my career. The internship also provided me with exposure to different aspects of the industry, including growth marketing, which broadened my skill set and opened up more career opportunities for me.

In terms of personal growth, the internship helped me to develop my confidence and communication skills. I had the opportunity to work with a diverse team of professionals and learn from their experiences, which helped me to become more self-assured and articulate in my interactions with others. I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of the Cowrywise team.

Dealing with people especially your mates can be tasking and this is where the team spirit comes in. From engaging the ambassadors’ community to organizing virtual events such as Club60 and Cowrywise Ambassadors Masterclass, I learnt a lot about working with people. I also learned how to be diplomatic and organized; I understood the concept of time management. 

I felt accepted and my self-esteem increased to a greater value. Educating people on investments such as mutual funds and savings plans is so easy for me now because I was open to learning and the Cowrywise team accepted me with open arms. I also celebrated my birthday at the Cowrywise office Has to be the best so far. Real love everywhere. 

I worked on several projects together with the creative designer and other members of the growth team. I created social media designs, in-app Cards, illustrations and motion designs. One project that I loved so much was my first isometric illustration. This was something I had never done before and I was so excited to create it. In 4 weeks, I went from not knowing how to use Figma to using the same tool for several project.

Working with a team can be difficult; sometimes you wonder if you are doing it all wrong. However, the growth team at Cowrywise made it easy. My direct managers checked in on my progress frequently and introduced me to multiple productivity tools. Opportunities like the Cowrywise campus ambassador internship are rare. I’m grateful for the chance to contribute to the value created at Cowrywise.

I came in to understand how customer feedback affects product development, the importance of prioritizing customer satisfaction, collaborate with team members on projects and basically learn as much as I can about customer experience. To achieve this, I worked with the best team at Cowrywise. They shared their knowledge and time. They made extra efforts to make sure I got a hang of things. They reassured me when I panicked. Again, I worked with the best team.

If anything, interning at Cowrywise is the best thing that has happened to me this year [2022]. Before then, I had always been writing but still, I was amazed at how much work goes into writing for the Cowrywise blog. It was more than just putting words together. It was about writing to achieve a particular goal, to send a particular message across. And in my case as an SEO content writer, my writing was majorly to optimise for search engines such as Google. Working with the entire team on different projects exposed me to various aspects of growth marketing. As someone who is new to the industry and still trying to find my foot, this diverse learning and working experience really helped in my decision-making. In the end, I settled for SEO Writing.

My data analyst internship has broadened my perspective on how I can apply my analytical skills to the field of actuarial science, which has made me more competitive in the job market. Specifically, the experience has enabled me to explore the role of data analytics in actuarial science, which has become increasingly important with the rise of big data and artificial intelligence. To further expand my knowledge in this area, I am currently conducting research for my dissertation on predictive analytics in actuarial science. Additionally, I am organizing a program themed ‘AI in Underwriting: Improving Efficiency and Accuracy’ to explore how machine learning and other forms of AI can enhance the accuracy and efficiency of underwriting in the insurance industry.

Despite not having the opportunity to work since then due to my academic commitments, I strongly believe that the experience and skills I gained during my internship at Cowrywise will be highly beneficial in my future career pursuits. The internship, however, challenged me to hone my data visualisation skills, which is one of my top learning priorities now. I learnt about analytics engineering which is the process of building and maintaining the infrastructure and systems that support data analytics. I learnt how to design and build data pipelines that efficiently and securely transport data between different systems, as well as how to optimize queries and data processing algorithms for improved performance. I also learnt so much about communication, collaboration and personal branding. I have experienced significant development in my soft skills.

At Cowrywise, I learnt how to design and build data pipelines that efficiently and securely transport data between different systems, as well as how to optimize queries and data processing algorithms for improved performance. I also learnt so much about communication, collaboration and personal branding. I have experienced significant development in my soft skills. I definitely am not the same person I was before the internship. My approach to problem-solving and my learning priorities are now different.

At Cowrywise, I worked with Yeni and subsequently Kizito, the creative designer, to create video assets with Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects for our campaigns. I also learnt to figure out how to best reach our target audience with video campaigns. I learnt how to work in a team and to communicate my ideas effectively in an environment that encouraged that. I learned to produce excellent work whether an audience of 1 or an audience of 70,000 people would view it. This is very important.

I partook in weekly roundup meetings with the growth team to discuss progress on our campaigns and learnt tips for creating content for your intended viewer as well as the importance of marketing and its strategies to help your product to reach the right audience. I am glad that I was able to start my media career at Cowrywise with an amazing team, healthy work culture and an amazing set of people to work with. I know I have been blessed and I am glad I got to intern as an ambassador.

Although I’ve been doing content writing for a while before the internship, I couldn’t say the same for SEO writing. But look at me, I feel like a badass SEO content writer. I learned a lot in 8 weeks and I am astonished at how much I could do. Working in a cross-functional team in real-time has always been a dream of mine. Here, I didn’t just get to experience that, I got to experience it with the best team ever. Working with the growth team to brainstorm ideas for campaigns and brand marketing has taught me so much. I understand better the effort that goes into product marketing and how every detail is important in your commitment to excellence. I’ve learned to not settle for less because it is convenient, but to push for the best because that’s what you’re known for. I learned about freedom and responsibility. Nobody was breathing down my neck about meeting up with my deliverables but I knew it was expected of me and I learned to deliver at the right time. It’s just part of the culture you meet at Cowrywise and somehow it becomes a part of you.