Marketing Work Experience at The Candidate

Louisa McRobb has moved from Salisbury to Manchester to pursue a career in digital marketing. Initially studying journalism at Salford University, she decided after a year this wasn’t for her and wanted to be in employment. This was a brave decision and to get her foot in the door she has been gaining experience here at The Candidate’s marketing department. She talks about her involvement at The Candidate and what’s inspired her to get straight into employment.

I found The Candidate after looking for digital marketing roles online and so I originally emailed asking for any advice on emerging myself into the digital marketing world. As I don’t have a lot of experience in this field for me it was essential to get some hands on experience. So I sent an email to the guys, had a conversation with Melanie and the next thing I knew I was coming in and helping two days a week. This could possibly have been one of the most important emails that I’ve ever sent.

The experience I gained from The Candidate was extremely valuable, they have pushed me to find contacts and offered me advice and exposed me to a real life agency environment. They are a fun team so make you feel completely welcome and with their experience comes advantages such as the contact base they have. I now feel much more confident about the prospect of my career after coming to Manchester from Salisbury without any contacts or experience whatsoever.

With weekly outings and a fun team spirit, it didn’t matter to me that it was unpaid. It made it easier and I was happy to come in and learn the ropes of social media and content marketing. For example, I wrote numerous job specs, understood the principles of SEO and how to use social media effectively to attract candidates and clients.  I also learnt quickly what digital marketing companies are looking for. I absorbed all the knowledge and can now successfully say that I am getting a full-time role elsewhere. They helped give me an idea of the employers that I should be speaking to and helped me research my presentation for the role that I have just secured. Although I will miss the team and the angst of whose music day it is, I know that I have a good base and ethic there. They want to help whoever they can honestly and earnestly so I can always speak to them if I need help in my next career step. I’d highly recommend them!

Many of the interns and work experience candidates who come through The Candidate have ended up in part-time employment here or elsewhere and have benefitted from an introduction to a potential employer. This is because of the scale of contacts and businesses which they work with across the North West, Yorkshire and beyond. The key to achieving that next step is to be passionate about what you are working on, show a genuine interest and ask lots of questions. The more of a resource you can be for the recruitment teams, the more you will become important and needed for them to do their job and hit their targets. The same applies to all companies and work experience opportunities.

If this is something you might want to get involved in call us on 0161 833 1044 or email on [email protected] and get stuck in with a growing recruitment agency that specialises in digital marketing. We particularly need interns and those needing work experience who are good writers and understand the importance of good grammar and spelling. After all, you’ll be inputting directly into the website, the company’s shop front!

Read Isabelle's blog on the benefits of working part-time here. 

Read Will's blog on work experience in digital marketing here. 

Check out Tom's blog on how work experience can lead to your dream job here. 

Check out why you should work for us here.