Lucy Liu
Major: Political Science
Product Marketing Intern at Viralt.ai
How did you learn about this internship opportunity?
What is a piece of advice you would give someone in your major looking for an internship?
My biggest piece of advice is to look beyond the job title and focus on opportunities where you can learn by doing. Prioritize the skills that would position you well in the long run.
What key responsibilities or projects have you taken on during your internship?
During my internship at Viralt.ai, I worked across product marketing, user research, content strategy, and marketing analytics for an AI-powered creator platform. I supported several digital marketing campaigns across social media and SEO, where I created and tested content, analyzed campaign performance, and used those performance metrics to improve future strategies. A highlight from this internship would be building AI-assisted workflows to automate parts of campaign analysis, SEO research, and performance reporting, which helped reduce time spent on repetitive tasks and allowed the team to focus more on strategic decision-making.
How has your internship helped build your skills and clarify your career goals? How did being a Liberal Arts student at Purdue apply to your internship?
My internship at Viralt.ai helped me strengthen both technical and interpersonal skills while also giving me a much clearer sense of the kind of work I want to pursue after graduation. Before the internship, I knew I was interested in marketing, technology, and strategy, but I had not yet experienced how those areas came together within an actual company. Working at an AI startup gave me the opportunity to see that intersection firsthand. Political Science has also trained me to think about broader context. In class, we rarely look at an issue in isolation; we consider institutions, incentives, audiences, and competing interests. I found myself applying that same mindset to marketing. When analyzing a competitor or thinking about how to position a product, I learned to ask not only, “What are they doing?” but also, “Why are they doing it? Who are they trying to reach? What motivates that audience? What external trends might influence their decisions?” That broader perspective helped me approach marketing problems more strategically.
In what ways has the College of Liberal Arts at Purdue University supported your internship journey? How has your participation in our Job-Ready program specifically aided your professional development?
The College of Liberal Arts at Purdue has played an important role in helping me connect my academic experience with professional opportunities. Through CLA, I have developed strong skills in research, writing, critical thinking, and communication, all of which became directly relevant during my internship at Viralt.ai as I conducted user research, analyzed competitors, developed marketing strategies, and communicated ideas across different projects. The Job-Ready program further supported professional development by encouraging me to think intentionally about how my experiences translate into career-ready skills and by making this opportunity more accessible.
Could you highlight a standout aspect of your experience in the Job-Ready program that you find particularly noteworthy?
One standout aspect of the Job-Ready program was how intentionally it connected my internship experience to my long-term professional development. Rather than viewing the internship as simply something to complete over the summer, the program encouraged me to reflect on the skills I was building, the types of work I enjoyed most, and how those experiences could shape my future career decisions. That reflection helped me recognize how much I had grown in areas such as research, communication, adaptability, and strategic thinking, while also giving me a clearer understanding of my interest.