Day 1 – Onboarding
This marked the beginning of my career and degree in digital marketing. Of course, my nerves were through the roof, however I did my best at keeping them contained. The drive to work was painfully slow – I just wanted to start work as soon as possible!
When I eventually arrived, I was let in through the newly installed side gate and shown down to the cabin, from which I would be working from. As soon as the door opened, my eyes were immediately drawn to the colourful writing on the whiteboard, which said “Hello Beth!” Somehow, this simple, yet meaningful act abolished my feelings of anxiousness that I’d had that morning – I was grateful.
To make me feel even more valued, I was surprised to see a welcome hamper waiting on my desk! The hamper was filled with so many snacks, all of which were yellow coloured to be on theme with the company! It was all accompanied with a bottle of prosecco. Once again, a simple, yet very considerate act of making me feel even more comfortable. Not only that, but I also had the brand-new technology to unpack and get set-up. No-hand-me-downs here! On my desk, there was a Macbook Air, an Apple keyboard, and a mouse that needed to be taken out of their packaging and set-up! The final piece of the puzzle that I was very kindly given, were my very own business cards, which really excited me because I had never had my own cards before to give out to people!
After the set-up process, I logged into my new tech, and I downloaded the full Adobe Suite and Microsoft Office – a very daunting, yet thrilling experience! I was then introduced to the motivational idea of writing a future letter to myself. I’d never thought about doing it before, but writing one seemed to come so naturally. The letter involved speaking to myself in a year’s time, as if I was congratulating myself for accomplishing so much in a year! This idea of writing down the things that I want to do before May 2025 in a way that sounds like I’ve already done them seemed to make the goals that much more realistic and attainable.
After a productive morning, we went to grab some lunch at Pret a Manger – a cookie and a mac and cheese to be precise! Once back, we cracked on with some more induction tasks. The next task on our to-do list was for me to be run-through the Just Add Treviss introduction, which involved the core values and why we do what we do, with an aim of flexibility. I learnt that Just Add Treviss’ acronym for our unique marketing framework is OAMCI (which stands for offering, audience, message, channel and insight).
After a day in the office, I drove us to the Voice FM studio to allow me to watch a live show take place! It was extremely insightful and I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the behind-the-scenes. This involved recording a pre-interview of the guest and then a post-interview to see the progress in how the pre-interview nerves compared with the feelings of accomplishment afterwards.
Overall, my first day at Just Add Treviss was even more than I could have hoped for! The most significant aspect that really stuck with me was how welcome I was made to feel. It was a privilege to be able to walk into that cabin, knowing that it would be the place where I started my new career.
Day 2 – Working with my first client
The second day of my first week was actually not in the office. Well, not ours at least. Instead, we spent the day on-site at a client’s office. Everyone was incredibly supportive and accommodating as soon as I arrived. Not only that, but they made an amazing cup of tea! Whilst I was there, I was assigned the task of announcing my own on-boarding to the company page of Just Add Treviss! The post received amazing feedback and it introduced me into the world of networking. I’d gone from having no previous networking experience to suddenly replying to Just Add Treviss’ comments and thanking everyone for their courteous messages!
I then got stuck into client work! It was all mostly social media oriented, as there were posts on Planable that needed to be crafted and scheduled as soon as possible! I really loved crafting the posts, as it allowed me to understand our clients better and what we do for them. With a lot of double-checking and approvals, I eventually scheduled them!
To my delight, we went out for lunch at Mayflower, where I tucked into a margherita pizza (basic, but so underrated!) This lunch out gave me a chance to get-to-know the clients on a more personal level, in which I felt more like being among friends, rather than clients.
Day 3 – First ever networking event
Every day is different, and day 3 was no exception to that! As previously mentioned, I had never had any previous experiences with networking. This was all about to drastically change…
I went to my first ever networking event called Poddi at the Holiday Inn in Eastleigh! I woke up at 5am to get there for around 6:15 to give myself time to wake up and practice my 60 second pitch that I had prepared for Just Add Treviss. Upon arrival, it was a constant rush of meeting some incredible business owners, who all put me at ease with the 60 seconds that I was soon to do. I devoured some of the hotel’s breakfast, which included sausages and pain au chocolat! During the event, I gave out my business cards for the first time! A monumental moment! Eventually, it was my turn to do the 60 seconds, and I did stumble over my words a little bit. With everyone’s eyes watching, I started to feel the pressure and became quite shaky. However, for my first time, I’d say it went very well- and I enjoyed it, which was the main thing! I’d love to do it again so that I can perfect my elevator pitch!
Day 4 – Even more networking (I’m really getting into this networking stuff)
Nearly at the end of my first week! It went so fast! On my fourth day, I dived headfirst into even more networking! This time, I attended the Women Who Do Networking Event, in which I went to Bisque Coffee in Southampton – a beautiful café in the heart of Southampton. It was truly inspirational to meet so many incredible women in business and to hear each of their stories!
Later, I was introduced to the world of websites. All the behind-the-scenes was so interesting to watch, for example when I saw a website go live for the first time! I learnt how to build a landing page using Elementor, as well as collating texts and images to use on the page. As much as I had loved everything I had seen and done up until this point, there was something about website creation that seemed right up my street! I had a brief introduction to Google ads and budget setting, but I know that there will be lots more to come- I can’t wait for that!
Day 5 – My first official 1-1
For the final day of my first week, I had a 1-1 with a member of Poddi, Lucy Gibson, who I instantly hit it off with when I attended the networking group. We went for a scenic walk down at Royal Victoria Country Park, meanwhile discussing her business, Positively Simple UK, as well as my aspirations as an apprentice. I thoroughly enjoyed the company and the ice cream at the end of it wasn’t too bad either!
My tasks for that day were mostly social media posts. I needed to craft and schedule some Voice FM posts to promote Matt’s show, ‘The Business with Matt Treviss’! For a client, I researched some key dates within a year for any future references that would link perfectly with the theme of their social media posts!
Final Thoughts
As my first week as Digital Marketer Apprentice for Just Add Treviss is brought to a close, I just wanted to add that I had an amazing time, and throughout the whole week, I was made to feel so welcome by all that I met. It is truly an honour to be starting a career so early on in my life that I have a passion for, surrounded by so many inspiring men and women in business, who I completely look up to and wish to someday be.
I’m super excited for what the future will bring! If there is one tip I would like to give to any potential apprentices out there, it would definitely be to put yourself out there and take the chance. Whether that is sending the email or dialling the number, that one tiny action could lead to a future career path doing what you love. I’m grateful that I sent the email when I did, otherwise I wouldn’t have been lucky enough to be working for Just Add Treviss!
If you’re interested in what’s in store for Just Add Treviss, follow us on our socials!