Having spent a week here at Delineo, I can honestly say it feels like I’ve been here for a lot longer – in a good way, of course.
After spending a few months at college, it became clear to me that a classroom style education wasn’t really for me anymore. Going to college and getting A levels, to then go on to university was the only path I had ever considered. But once I realised that there were other options, I started to look into an apprenticeship. Having had an older brother complete an IT apprenticeship, I realised how they are a really good alternative to university for people like myself who learn better by getting stuck in. What really stood out to me about the scheme is that you get one year of work experience and still get a qualification at the end of it. Getting paid is also a nice bonus too!
The next step was deciding what I wanted to do. As I’d always wanted to do a marketing degree at university, it only made sense that a marketing apprenticeship would be right for me. I researched different areas of marketing and social media really stuck out. As a big social media user myself, I’ve had first-hand experience of the impact social media can have. I felt that social media would be a really interesting field to get into as it’s always growing and evolving.
The Apprentice Academy and their programme help 16-18 year olds find an apprenticeship in either business admin or social media and digital marketing, supporting them throughout. There were a variety of self-assessments which helped me to understand out what kind of learner I am, how I work in a team and what kind of environment I would work best in. After a couple of days of assessments and interview preparation, the opportunity for an interview at Delineo arose. I had two interviews with Amanda Childs, Social Media Executive and my soon to be mentor, and Tom Mason, Head of Social Media. After my interviews, my first impressions were that everyone seemed really friendly. My first interview was on the day of the one year anniversary in the new office, so there was a big party going on and lots of cakes and food. Always a good sign!
After being offered the job, I had five days of training at the apprentice academy to complete. In the first two days, myself and my group studied the basics of social media and digital marketing. In the last three days, we did various teamwork exercises and learnt more about how to succeed in the work place. I was awarded a distinction in my training and won the best apprentice out of the training group award which I was very happy with!
Having spent a week at Delineo, the main thing I’ve felt is the warm and friendly culture. Everyone is always prepared to help you in your time of need and, as a new apprentice, that has come in extremely handy! There’s always a lot of laughter and I’ve been impressed by Delineo’s balance of having a fun and friendly atmosphere and getting some really inspiring work done. I still have a lot to learn but in my first week here I’ve already gained so much invaluable experience. The main thing I’ve had to get to grips with is using different tones for different clients. As each client has their own specific audience it is important to get the message across in the best way possible. I’ve particularly enjoyed blog writing as I love to write, however I do need to watch my word count a bit as I do tend to waffle on a bit (a lot). Apologies to Amanda who has to read everything I put across.
Getting to know everyone at Delineo has been a lovely experience and so far my induction pack has been really helpful. I can’t wait to see what the next 12 months have in store for me at Delineo.