The last 4 months at Napier have flown by, and I can safely say I am still enjoying it as much as my first day. This is my second blog for Napier, read my first blog here.
Napier is a great place to work as I continue with my apprenticeship – it provides a motivated and friendly working environment, everyone here at Napier are always willing to help me if I’m stuck or have any questions. My colleagues are really driven to help me progress throughout my work, and always keep me busy with new work.
My biggest project has been working on a Marketing Automation eBook that addresses all the mistakes that companies are prone to making when it comes to Marketing Automation. It was pretty hard to begin with for someone who has no knowledge in this field, but the project has really helped me learn and understand more about the topic.
Using social media is something that I have been used to as an active social media user, but now I know how to use social media more effectively, specifically for business use. As a result of this I am responsible for curating content for some of Napier’s social channels. I monitor social feeds to find relevant content and schedule posts in advance, I was glad to hear from the directors that the Klout score had increased since I’ve been active on the accounts, after I found out what that meant of course… a Klout Score is a number between 1-100 that ranks your influence on social networks, the higher score the more influential you are. Napier have been taking on more digital work and it has been interesting to be involved with business development, including prospecting for new clients.
I have also been able to get to grips with client work, such as the day to day running of competitions which encompasses the sending out emails to notify the winners they’ve won, checking prize stock lists and asking for new stock if required, and shipping the prizes to the winners; learning how to use SurveyMonkey in order to create research surveys in several different languages; I’ve been in contact with editors from various publications, to arrange meetings for a client in an upcoming exhibition/ conference; and analysing competitors coverage. I’m hoping to soon get experience with creating HTML emailers and newsletter coding.
The push for students to go to university after A-levels was strong, but choosing to go straight to work through an apprenticeship rather than completing a university/college focused course will give me the essential experience I need for a successful career. I am so fortunate to be in the position I am now, I have my whole career ahead of me and this is just the start. Working alongside my colleges, managers and clients as well the guidance provided by Chichester college has given me the support I need if I’m ever in doubt. While some tea rounds were inevitable, luckily my apprenticeship has been centred on getting involved with a large variety of work and, increasing my skills so that I can make a valuable contribution to Napier.
Having been used to the type of study done a classroom, it is completely different working in an office, surrounded by professionals in my field. I find this really motivating and pushes me to learn more. The one day a week I spend at Chichester college is good because it is a change in pace from the busy working environment, and gives me chance to focus on portfolio work, get guidance on coursework and prepare for exams to get my final qualification.
The 6-10th March 2017 is National Apprenticeships Week, so find out more by checking out the hashtag #NAW17 on Twitter.
