by Gilbert Radulescu, 2nd Year BA (Hons) Business & Management, University of Kent
It’s funny how things can change in a heartbeat. Take my childhood dream of going into a career in Banking & Finance. If you’d asked me a year ago, this career path would have been non-negotiable and yet here I am today, about to embark on a new journey in marketing!
What changed my mind? No great eureka moment – it when I was in my last year at Cardinal Pole School in 2013 when My Big Career (www.mybigcareer.org) came in to talk to pupils and students and give some real insights into the workplace and how we could gain entry.
My Big Career, is an inspiring works’ placement scheme that works with leading recruiters for their help in securing placements across different workplace channels. So, when I needed to do some work experience as part of my degree in Business & Management at Kent Uni, I contacted My Big Career, who introduced me leading recruiter into Marketing, Comms and Sponsorship communities, f1 Recruitment, headed by Amanda Fone.
Amanda was really helpful and connected me with The Drum Network, which is the UK’s biggest marketing website. Things moved quickly, and I started a week’s placement with them a couple of weeks later.
I didn’t know much about Drum so did some online research before I started. I’d been told that they had a very relaxed atmosphere – sort of Google-like, which sounded great – and that it was quite laid back. This included casual dress with no overt formality around the workplace.
When I arrived it really lived up to my expectations, everyone seemed young and excited about what they were doing. There was a great vibe, loads of positive energy and everyone seemed to work hard but not in an informal environment.
My time was spent in a lot of listening and learning, seeing how people work in different roles across the business, The Drum Network is a major UK digital space and covers website, mag, awards, conferences, training and social media, so a real mix of things, quite fast growing and embracing new technologies. It was a really exciting place to do work experience, and in the end it went so well that they invited me to stay for an extra week.
At the end of those two weeks, I was hooked into Marketing. It has really helped me to focus on what I want to do long term, and what is the best role for me.
It showed me what marketing is and how I could fit into the Industry. And, it made me think about the type of role that I would love to have. For example, I’d really like to have an internal role with a company, or a young brand, which I could feel passionately about. I couldn’t work for something or someone that I didn’t believe in.
Best of all, I would say to anyone considering a works placement – do it! Get as much experience as you can – and whilst you can – and take advantage of the schemes such as My Big Career which really help make a difference and have access to some great brands. For me, I can’t thank the team highly enough for giving me a life-changing experience and an introduction to what I know is going to be my future….