Madeline Thorpcompleted our Marketing Work Experience programme with CIM back in February 2021.
During the two week programme, Maddy was inspired to pursue a career in marketing. Since then, with great determination, she has pursued her dream and recently landed her first role as a digital marketing apprentice within a full service design and marketing agency.
Read on to hear how Springpod helped kick-start Maddy's marketing career journey.
I completed Springpod’s Marketing Work Experience with CIM back in February 2021, and it has helped shape and sculpt me into the marketer I am today. I am here to share with you my journey into marketing, from the very start to the present day, and tell you about my experience on the virtual work experience programme.
Initial Interest
My initial interest in marketing was sparked when I completed work experience in a marketing department at a local college. The experience made me eager to find out more about the marketing industry and I wanted to learn more about the principles of marketing and what pathways I could take to start a career in the industry. On the back of this, I then began looking for work experience opportunities in the marketing field.
How I came across Springpod
I randomly came across the Springpod virtual work experience programme in my virtual college bulletin, and it instantly stood out to me. I liked the idea of being able to complete the work experience at my own pace, in my own time, and from the comfort of my own home. To ensure I secured my place on the programme, I then completed the short and sweet application form, and got accepted onto the programme a few days later.
My time on the Springpod Virtual Work Experience Programme
I thoroughly enjoyed my time on Springpod’s work experience programme. The modules were relevant, engaging, and informative, and I loved that the work experience was fully remote and self-paced. This allowed me to revisit any sections that I felt I needed to develop a better understanding in, which is something I found incredibly useful and helped me solidify my knowledge of the course’s content.
Although you can complete the course in your own time and at your own pace, I would highly recommend that you make sure that you are around for as many of the live webinars as possible. The webinars were delivered by experts from different areas of the marketing industry who really showed a great understanding and passion for the marketing industry and the sector they specialised in. Although recordings of the webinars were available to watch on-demand, a key benefit of watching the webinars live is that you can take advantage of the Q&A section, where I asked the speakers any questions that came to me during their talks.
One of my favourite parts of the work experience was the practical tasks I had to complete along the way. My favourite task was creating an advertisement for a company of my choice, in which I let my creativity run loose and produced a pretty nice poster if I say so myself! The tasks really helped me to solidify my knowledge of the modules by putting what I had learnt into practice, and they were incredibly fun to complete too!
Overall, the work experience programme helped shape me into the marketer I am today and furthered my passion and love for marketing.
The Aftermath
I finished the work experience programme with a new bank of knowledge, a wide range of skills and the confidence to begin to pursue a career in marketing. The work experience showed me that you do not need a marketing degree to become a marketer and highlighted to me that I can begin my career in digital marketing by becoming a digital marketing apprentice. The idea of an apprenticeship appealed to me in particular as I loved the idea of working whilst I was learning the core fundamentals of marketing and developing essential skills for a marketing job role.
From this, I then began to apply for digital marketing apprenticeship positions and shortly after received an interview for a digital marketing apprenticeship position at a full-service marketing agency. After showcasing the knowledge I had developed in a face-to-face interview and highlighting my marketing skills in the project-based task, I received a phone call saying that I had been offered the apprenticeship position. I am now currently four months into a digital marketing apprenticeship, and I could not be happier in my career.
To conclude, I would not be where I am today without completing the Springpod virtual work experience programme. The programme gave me valuable insights into the marketing industry and provided me with knowledge and confidence that ultimately helped me secure my apprenticeship and kick-start my career in marketing.
To find out more about her journey as an apprentice so far, connect with Madeline
If you’d like to attract, engage and recruit apprentices like Maddy through virtual work experience, then download your free Employer’s Guide to Virtual Work Experience below.