Becoming Through Doing: Lived Experiences and Professional Identity Development in Marketing Students’ Industrial Placements

This study explores the lived experiences of marketing students during year-long industrial placements (a.k.a. internships), focusing on how these experiences contribute to professional identity development. Although industrial placements are widely recognized for enhancing students’ employability and career prospects, considerably less is known about how these experiences shape the process of professional identity development. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach, we conducted an inductive thematic analysis of ungraded reflective reports in which marketing students reflected on their year-long industrial placement experiences. Findings reveal that placements do not merely provide opportunities to apply academic knowledge; rather, they constitute a process of becoming through doing, in which students negotiate workplace realities, reconstruct their self-understanding, and gradually develop a professional identity. This process is experienced through a series of “reality checks”—disorienting yet transformative encounters that challenge academic assumptions and trigger deep personal and professional growth. We identify five themes of professional becoming through which students navigate workplace ambiguity, experience personal growth, and consolidate their professional identity. The study concludes that identity formation is often catalyzed by informal and reactive learning rather than planned workplace tasks. The study offers practical recommendations for business schools and placement providers to better support students through the emotionally challenging liminal transition from the classroom to the workplace.