August 2, 2016, by Words on Words

From Placement to Permanent Employment

This blog post was written by Lauren Capon, who studied in the School of English.

It was October. Third year was in full swing, and numerous emails with somewhat formidable phrases like ‘career fair’ and ‘assessment centre’ were beginning to arrive in my uni inbox. After years of deliberation I’d finally decided to pursue a career in marketing, but where on earth was I going to start? As I started trawling through job site after job site it seemed there were plenty of grad jobs and internship schemes available. With a predicted 2.1 degree in English from a top university, I was confident I would be set with something by the end of term one.

I was wrong. Having thrown my CV in the direction of countless London availabilities and received next to nothing in response, I was feeling pretty down and uninspired. Which is why when, earlier this year, on receiving an email from the School of English advertising a digital marketing placement, I jumped at the opportunity. I recognised the company name, Impression Digital, from a careers talk I had been to months before. Ignoring my parents’ dissuasion about doing an internship alongside my finals, I submitted my application.

A whole month went by before I heard anything, but once my interview date was confirmed the process was a swift one. I went into the interview apprehensive but left strangely confident, reassured by the relaxed atmosphere in the agency office and the warm, friendly manner of my two interviewers. I’d already had some experience in marketing thanks to my involvement with a small independent business I’ve worked at since my first year at university, and felt sure that the fact I knew my stuff had impressed Impression.

When, the following morning, I woke up to an email saying I’d been chosen for the placement, I was over the moon. I felt sure that for whatever reason, this placement would be the key to my post-uni employability. It would be an understatement to say I merely enjoyed my placement – I loved everything about it, from the tasks I was given, the skills I learned, and the people I worked alongside. I looked forward to every placement day immensely, even more so as it meant I could escape the monotonous library routine for a few hours every week.

Until my sixth week I’d received little feedback on the work I’d done, and so when I was called for a “chat” at the end of the day I naturally feared the worst. You can imagine my surprise when I was not criticised, but in fact offered a full time job at Impression. Essentially, I had a weekend to decide what to do with my life in the near future but I took the job, which I am due to embark on at the start of September. I couldn’t be happier with my decision to do so or more excited to start the new chapter of my life (I’m writing this, in fact, on the train to view potential one-bedroom apartments for the next year!)

I can’t thank Impression enough for giving me this brilliant opportunity, and am hugely looking forward to being part of a team that are so fantastic at what they do.

Lauren Capon

For more information about placement and volunteering opportunities in the School of English, please see our webpages.

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