The Life of a Meetingsbooker Intern – Meet Tom Keogan

Meet Tom, a final year student studying Business Studies in Dublin Institute of Technology. Tom is a self-proclaimed rugby star and graciously shares his wisdom and talent with the U16 boys team in St. Mary’s College, Dublin as their coach. He hates parsnips and rudeness, but will admit to an affinity for the humble M&S parsnip crisp. Don’t expect to be in his good books if you put an ‘h’ in Keogan because he will not be happy.

Top Tip: Feed him Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice-cream and he’ll be your best friend for life.

Why did you decide to work at MeetingsBooker.com?

Well, for the past two summers I went abroad to Canada and America, where I worked in areas such as construction and painting. This summer, knowing that I was about to start my final year in college, I wanted to gain some relevant experience to my degree in order to increase my chances of getting a job by the time I graduate.

I came across MeetingsBooker.com through an online advertisement, and the combination of both IT and hospitality, which I feel is a unique mix, is what really drew me in. I knew that I wanted to experience as many different aspects of business as possible, so it was great to have the opportunity to do this in the one place. As well as all this, I was eager to work in a start-up as I have been told numerous times that it is fantastic experience. It is fascinating to see a company grow from base level and expand month on month.

Straight away, I found myself searching for the website’s careers section where I saw a sales and marketing position advertised. Immediately I knew that it would be no ordinary internship. The amount of detail in the description got me excited, because I knew that this wasn’t just a ‘coffee run’ position.

After my phone and face-to-face interview with Michael Holden, who would become my future manager, I was offered the position.

What was it like when you started?

As soon as I arrived, I was surprised by how welcoming and helpful everyone in my team was.

After a rundown of my duties, I was thrown straight into the deep end. When I ran into any problems, someone was always more than willing to help me through it – particularly my mentor Edward.

Edward allowed me to shadow him so that I could understand the day to day runnings better. After two or three weeks, I had the full swing of things. Despite it being a bit boring at times, shadowing was definitely beneficial. I think a mix of shadowing and some hands-on work in the deep end was the key for me.

What were your duties?

A large part of my work included phoning clients to obtain venue reviews which was a bit labouring at times when people would shrug off the phone call. It was hard at the start dealing with the rejection, but if you persevere like I did, you will get results, like I have.

Another duty of mine was to get answers for smaller event enquiries and let the relevant people know.

On one occasion, I got the opportunity to join the team on a site inspection. This is where we going to a venue to get a tour of their available rooms to include on their profile. On this occasion, we went to the Powerscourt Hotel in Enniskerry which was spectacular.

Michael knew from day one that I craved an insight into as many aspects of business as possible, because I was unsure of what area of business I wanted to end up in. He was more than willing to help me experience as many areas as he could include me in. For example, he invited me to sit in on phone interviews with new employees which was interesting to experience.

What were your expectations and have they been met?

My main expectation was simple, gain a great amount of experience into marketing and sales. This was met, and even exceeded because I not only experienced marketing and sales but much much more.

I wanted to get hands-on experience in a target driven environment.

The thing I expected the least, and I am thankful that I have experienced, is the helpfulness of my co-workers and the easy-going office environment. You can take a break to play table tennis and once you are hitting your targets it is a very relaxed place to work with friendly people.

Anything else to add?

Yes. Wade Taylor has inspired me to become a better table tennis player and more confident person overall. Thank you, Wade!