Job description
We’re RPA: an independent advertising agency that puts People First. It’s a unique philosophy for a different kind of agency: where we aspire to create work that truly matters to people, for brands that respect and value people, with a team we empower and treat like people. And we do it all in the heart of sunny Santa Monica, California.
RPA is seeking talented interns to join our “The Advertising Internship” Program for the Fall 2025 Semester.
At RPA we believe an internship should be more than a resume filler, it should be a place to set the course of your career. Our Industry Leading Internship Program embodies this very sentiment. You’ll get to experience firsthand the bold, creative, and collaborative culture that’s made RPA one of AdAge’s “Best Places to Work.” You get to do real work on real brands, as part of the largest advertising internship program in Los Angeles.
We’re not like other agencies. We believe we can only do our biggest thinking and create our most inspiring work when we put People First. Which means valuing and empowering our people to do their best and inspiring them to create ideas and experiences that respect people.
If you’re ready to work with awesome people in a place where people are encouraged to swing big, act bold, and be their most awesome selves, we want to meet you. Because we’re nothing without our people, and everything because of you.
RPA “The Advertising Internship” Program Overview:
Our newly minted internship program process is centered around getting to know you better and ensuring you have the best experience with us as possible. This means we want to get to know you better as a human by having a genuine conversation and leveraging video and virtual phone screen technology.
Internship programs nowadays are all the same, you apply with a resume, you talk to a recruiter and then the next thing you know you’re in a final round and it’s over. Not the best experience, right?
Well, that’s why we’re changing the way people can apply to our internship program, by reimagining the experience and focusing on 3 key pillars - connection, preparation, and education. From now on, candidates will be invited to tell us more about themselves via a virtual phone screen, followed by a second round where you’ll get to learn more about RPA as we prepare you how to stand out in the process and to help you understand which career path might be right for you through an RPA Prep Bootcamp. We’ll help you prepare a bio video for teams to review before meeting you, teach you how to interview to the best of your ability, help you network with some RPA’ers, and get some personal 1:1 time with one of our passionate recruiters.
Then, after we prepare you to do your best, we’ll have you connect with up to 2 teams who are actively searching for a talented intern to join their ranks this Fall 2025 Semester at our Sunny Santa Monica, California HQ.
So what are you waiting for? Shoot your shot and begin your new Advertising Adventure at an agency that is known for developing the best early career talent in the industry.
Important Details:
When: Monday, September 15th - Friday, December 12th, 2025.
Where: Santa Monica, HQ - Flexible Remote/Hybrid Environment. Your Recruiter will share more details with you.
Duration: Ability to dedicate a full-time schedule of 18-21 hours/week - minimum, Monday – Friday, 9 am-5 pm PST.
Application deadline: Last semester closed in 5 days, however, we will keep the application open till we receive 200 completed phone screen applications.
Available Departments:
Department options:
- Strategic Planning - You love writing and insights, have a glass-half-full attitude, are an expert note-taker, like to keep tabs on cultural trends, and have a balanced perspective.
- Marketing Intelligence (Analytics) - You are a unicorn of a nerd who loves to make data fashionable, the team MVP who invites all opinions but always brings the receipts.
- Production (Art, Digital and Video) - From start to finish, you strive for perfection, and you love rallying the team, you’re everyone’s #1 supporter who can somehow always save the day, and you aren’t afraid of balancing a ton of moving pieces and are always ready for action.
- Media (Strategy, Ad Ops, Buying, Paid Search/Social, Programmatic) - Business on the left and vibes on the right, you’re a full-time media junkie and Excel spreadsheet surfer who’s always on the lookout for trends on any type of media channel.
- Experience and Product Strategy - You’re a social media detective, always spotting trends, cultural moments, and emerging conversations. You engage communities while exploring new apps and digital experiences, with a keen eye for UX/UI and how design shapes user behavior.
- Account Management - You are an all-star presenter and a client customer service whisperer, you love building and growing relationships, agendas and organization are your middle name.
- Behavioral Science - You’re the expert in human behavior, turning psychology into strategy. You blend empathy with data to help create campaigns that deeply resonate, always keeping an eye on cultural trends.
- Public Relations - You’re the master of buzz and storytelling, turning ideas into headlines that make waves. You blend creativity with instinct to craft messages that get people talking, always keeping your finger on the pulse of what’s next.
Pay:
$18.00/hour - Non-Negotiable
Recruitment Timeline:
- You can apply to RPA’s “The Advertising Internship” program starting June 18th. No resume is required, just some basic information.
- Virtual Phone Interviews will begin June 23rd, and will stop as we receive 200 qualified applicants to review for the program.
- 50 finalists will be selected for the Prep Bootcamp and to meet with our associates in the final round.
- Ahead of the virtual phone screen, candidates should focus on preparing stories centered around Emotional Intelligence, Curiosity, Accountability, Collaboration, and Adaptability.
- Finalists will be notified if they’ve made it to the preparation round no later than Friday, July 11th.
- The Preparation Bootcamp will take place from July 14th to July 25th. This stage will be focused on preparation, education, and connection. We will host and conduct workshops, panels, and 1:1 chats with our talented recruiting team, doing our best to ensure you are ready to make your best first impression when you meet with the RPA teams who are on the search for super-talented interns such as yourself.
- Final round interviews will happen between early to late April via virtual video meeting calls through Microsoft Teams.
- Decisions will be communicated via email or phone call, the week of August 11th. Finalists who are selected will be given 24 hours to decide on their offer. Finalists who aren’t selected will be given a timeframe to request feedback in September 2025 should it be agreed upon by the agency.
These deadlines are subject to change, so we ask for your patience and understanding as we sort through hundreds of applications.
A note from our recruiters:
Hi there, It’s David from the People Team, we know this is a new process and that completing a virtual phone screen might be kind of scary and different, but rest assured, our team has done it too and has carefully crafted a process alongside a very incredibly personal, intelligent and powerful tool called Talent Llama, this tool is not a program that will be making decisions by itself but will help us in maximizing our time to ensure we can provide you with a better experience as you navigate and go through our recruitment process. At the end of the day, you’ll still get a chance to talk to a recruiter and as always our goal is to ensure you have an elevated and enhanced experience with us to ensure you get the best chance for success.
Good luck :)
With Love,
RPA’s People Team
