We sat down with our Digital Marketing Assistant Apprentice Jessica Lord, to give you an insight into how her first few months have been since joining Athona. We discussed life at Athona, day-to-day tasks, choosing to complete an apprenticeship and much more. Get to know more about Jess here:
What is your role at Athona?
I work in the Marketing department at Athona as a Digital Marketing Assistant Apprentice.
How long have you been working for Athona?
I joined Athona on the 7th February 2022, therefore, I have now been working here for 4 months and they have flown by!
What does a typical day in your job look like?
A typical day in my role starts at 8:30am when I first check over my emails and read my to-do list for the week. My team and I then decide which tasks need completing and how we will delegate our work amongst ourselves, this is then when I’ll start making my way through my tasks for the day in a chronological order. I am extremely lucky in my role as my tasks are very varied and diverse which I love; these range from creating email marketing campaigns, infographics, planning social content, and writing blogs – among many other things.
What made you realise you wanted to work in marketing?
I first realised that I wanted to work in marketing after I completed my creative media production and technology course at college. During this course, we briefly touched on many different sectors of media such as advertising and digital marketing. This is when I realised that I loved being creative, learning new Adobe skills and thinking outside of the box when completing projects.
What were your initial impressions when joining Athona?
My initial impressions of Athona were extremely positive. Everyone welcomed me with open arms and were always helpful with any queries that I may have had. My onboarding experience ran very smoothly and after meeting my team for the first time, I instantly felt valued and received an overwhelming amount of friendliness towards me.
What were you doing before joining Athona?
Before Athona, I was working as a production intern at an advertising agency in London. My roles and responsibilities were to attend shoots, find appropriate locations, ensure that all the required documents were signed from the relevant people for permits and shadow the producers with their day-to-day tasks.
What made you choose to complete an apprenticeship and what advice would you give to someone looking to do one?
I wanted to complete an apprenticeship because I wanted to gain on the job experience whilst still gaining a qualification. As I only had little experience in media and advertising, I wanted to acquire valuable and specific skills in my chosen sector of Marketing to flourish and further develop my knowledge. My advice would be, go into an apprenticeship with an open mind and a strong willingness to learn new things! Never be afraid to ask questions and get comfortable with your team as they will be the ones guiding you and answering any queries or issues you may have.
What is your favourite thing about working at Athona?
My favourite thing about working at Athona is the amiable culture. Everybody is extremely helpful and there are plenty of people that you can approach and ask questions to, and they’ll be more than happy to help!
What has been your favourite campaign to work on at Athona?
My favourite campaign has been creating and planning social posts for the two new websites launching and company rebrand. I was given the opportunity to create images, promotional videos of the new gallery wall feature in our office, and scheduled email campaigns out to our candidates so they are aware of our brand changes.
How have you found working in a fast-paced industry like recruitment? Is the recruitment industry what you thought it would be?
Before joining Athona I didn’t really know what recruitment was! Therefore, when joining, I went into it not knowing what to expect and what recruitment was all about. However, after working at Athona for four months now, I have come to thoroughly enjoy working in this fast-paced environment as it allows me to be creative and constantly busy and productive. I also love that no two days are the same in my role due to the nature of recruitment.
What is the best bit of advice you have been given?
The best piece of advice I’ve been given was ‘It’s only when you risk failure that you discover new things’. This impacted me the most because starting in a new industry with no previous knowledge of recruitment or little experience in Marketing, it was reassuring to know that there’s no such thing as a silly question!
Finally, what would your specialist quiz subject be?
My specialist quiz subject would definitely be ‘guess that theme tune’ or ‘guess that logo’. No one has ever beat me at it!
Are you looking to embark upon an apprenticeship? Get in touch with our team to find out what we have on offer!
T: 01277 217777
View our current internal vacancies.
