Emmy's Marketing Work Experience

I graduated from Birmingham University with a BA degree in Marketing and Management in June 2013. Since then I have found it difficult to secure a permanent job within marketing. The main reason for this was my lack of experience. My Dad's colleague recommended I contact Karen to see if I could come for a week's work placement in Aylesbury at Enterprise Marketing Solutions. My aim of the work placement was to gain some experience in an actual marketing company so that it would enhance my CV. I gained so much more than that within the 4 days I worked with Karen.

On the Monday I arrived I had no idea what to expect, Karen talked me through her business and explained what a busy week I had in store. I then read through some marketing plans she was currently implementing with her clients and I was so impressed with the detail and the creativity she had used.

That afternoon I met with Andrew, Karen's right hand man! They had a Skype meeting with a taxi firm to discuss how their marketing plan was going and in particular the website and social media for the company. I had not taken any modules to do with the internet at University, which after listening to Andrew's viewpoint made me regret my decision and it is definitely something I will look into and learn more about in the future.

On Tuesday I arrived at Aylesbury nice and early as we had a breakfast meeting in Oxford at the Business Wealth Club. Karen introduced me to many important business people from the area. We had two meetings and it was fascinating to see how Karen networked and I loved meeting people that were so enthusiastic about their businesses, the same as Karen was with hers.

That afternoon we went to another meeting at a local business called Sivatech, Karen was there to get feedback on the recent leaflets she had designed. It was good to be asked my opinion and it really made me think about all different aspects of marketing including the design element and also made me feel valued.

On Wednesday Karen and I travelled to Banbury to meet with a company named Kendra. They were in the early stages of their marketing plan that Karen had written for them. It was a long meeting but interesting as we covered every aspect of the business. With Karen's recommendations a timeline was set up to implement the plan.

That afternoon Karen gave me the chance to write my own case study about one of the marketing plans I had read earlier in the week. I quizzed her to get all the facts and wrote a 2 page case study.

On Thursday, I was given the task to research other companies in the area which could be of interest to Karen. I created a spreadsheet and found contact details for potential tele marketing activity. Market research is incredibly important to any business so it was good to put to use my knowledge from University.

That afternoon I accompanied Andrew back to Sivatech and observed a class he taught the employees about how to use word press and manage the website that he and Karen had made for the company. Once again it reminded me that online marketing is something that I would really like to get into and learn more about.

That was the end of my incredibly busy week. I felt that I had learnt so much in that small amount of time and I am really grateful to Karen and Andrew for all that they taught me.

Within my job search over the last 6 months I had been drifting away from applying for the marketing roles but after my work placement at Enterprise Marketing Solutions it had reminded me how much I enjoy marketing and it put me back on track to starting my marketing career.

Coincidentally I had a job interview the next day at Mercedes head office in Milton Keynes. I really believe that the knowledge and confidence that Karen had given me this week is the reason how Mercedes offered me a job that very same day.

Emmy