It is World Student Day on Thursday 15th October. At High Performance we truly see the value of hands-on learning. This September we welcomed the newest member to the HPC Sales and Marketing team, Maisie Ford. Maisie is joining us on her placement year ahead of her final year studying Marketing at LJMU. Maisie will be our fourth Marketing placement student from LJMU, having been preceded by a selection of bright, motivated and engaged future marketeers. This World Students Day we asked Maisie a few questions about her experience so far, starting a new job during a pandemic and her plans for the future.
I chose to study Marketing at Liverpool John Moores University. During my time at Sixth Form, I studied Business and in particular I really enjoyed the module on Marketing. We had to create an entire marketing mix based off of a case study. I found this really interesting and wanted to learn more about this, and what Marketing entailed.
Sometimes it can be daunting, with a lot of information to retain about a certain subject. It is different to school as it goes into very fine detailing. Yet, that is something that shouldn’t put you off. I have thoroughly enjoyed university so far. Getting my results back at the end of the year is really rewarding and makes it all worth it. It is also great when I find a specific topic which I am really interested in. Learning and writing about something is much more enjoyable when you have a real interest in it. Both the educational and social aspect of university is something that I have loved.
During the second semester of my second year at university I completed a module which was all about Digital Marketing. I really enjoyed the aspects of this module and knew that digital marketing was something that I was interested in. The fact that the role offered by HPC had many aspects of digital marketing included was what first drew me to the role. As well as this, after researching HPC they seemed very successful and a great place to work. After meeting some of the team via interviews, I knew it was the role I definitely wanted.
Digital marketing is something that I think I would like to into after completing my degree. Hopefully by gaining experience through my placement year, it will help to steer me in the direction that I would like to go. Having this opportunity to experience marketing in a work environment allows me to learn marketing within the real world. This is something I would not of learnt by just attending university. This experience should help me to set specific career goals and plans for the future, as I will have a clearer idea on what I want to do after placement.
The interview process was different to what I have ever experienced. Both stage interviews were via Zoom. It seemed a little strange at first but I believe I benefitted from this way of interviewing. It helped me to remain calm during interviews and bring out my confidence.
Starting anything new during the pandemic will feel strange at first, because of the new guidelines and social distancing measures that we all have to follow. For example, there are more meetings over Zoom/Microsoft Teams to keep in touch rather than face to face. I have however found starting my placement at this time rewarding and I have been supported thoroughly. It has provided me with normality and a routine during this turbulent time. Whilst things have been different to what they usually would be, I feel welcomed into the business and I am enjoying my placement year. I am grateful for the opportunity and happy that the pandemic did not affect me finding a placement. The experience I will gain from this year will be invaluable and I’m looking forward to completing the rest of my placement year.
Happy World Student Day! If you would like to discuss any of the contents of this post, please get in contact with the HPC team today.
T: 0844 800 5932
E: contact@highperformanceconsultancy.com
Twitter: @HPC_HRServices