So, here I am fresh out of uni and looking for a job. Like most graduates the prospect of moving on into the real world is definitely an overbearing and scary thought. The question is where do I go from here?
I graduated from The University of West England (UWE) with a BA Hons in Business Management with Marketing this summer and after looking for jobs in marketing, I came across SearchStar from a friend’s recommendation. I had always been interested in the digital side of marketing and this seemed the perfect way to start a career in the industry.
After researching the company and found there were free pastries every Friday morning I was set. SearchStar looked great; amazing promotion opportunities, top-notch training, working with some of the top people in the industry and to round it all up, they were offering a grad scheme. I felt like this was the company for me.
So, I sent in my application and was fortunate enough to get through the interview process and land myself my first grad job.
Graduate Guinea Pig
I was the first of the graduate intake to start this year and eager for what was to come over the next few months. It was then I found that I was to be the guinea pig for the brand-new graduate scheme. A very exciting prospect!
The scheme is set out over a 12-week period and encompasses all the basics needed to become a digital media buying agent. Week 1 and 2 brought in everything from search term research to ad creation and got me straight involved working in the ‘SearchStar Way’ with live clients.
It was great to be doing work that made a difference this early on and gave me an idea of the responsibility I would be given. This was paired with training courses offered by The Google Academy. This mix of SearchStar and Google training gave me a great insight into the best way to build and maintain a Google Ads account - experience all of which I could build on in the coming weeks.
Broadening Experience
The following two weeks are spent working with the Analytics and Conversion teams. Being able to integrate with different teams broadened my depth of knowledge and gave an idea of the additional offerings that SearchStar provide their clients on top of paid search.
The aim of the two weeks was to get an understanding of how Google Analytics works and how the Conversion Team operates. The Conversions Team introduced me to some of the tools used when working with clients. Session recordings, page loading speed tests and building new website wireframes were all part of the work I was conducting for the team.
It was great to see how the work that the Conversions Team does integrates back into the PPC world and the amount that it can make an impact on everything I would be doing.
The First Client
Now that basic training was complete it was time to gain my first client… my first proper bit of responsibility. I was able to put everything I had learned into practice. This is where I felt I could really start knuckling down into the thick of it.
The next few weeks were all about building experience within my role, both with client work as well as further training from the experts within the company. I was now working with several platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat) and delving deeper into data analysis to make more informed and strategic decisions.
You develop very quickly with the training and on the job experience you gain over this period. I went from being a rookie to a fully-fledged account executive and ready to tackle the digital space in just a matter of weeks.
3 Months In
I am now 3 months into my grad role at SearchStar, with a strong client portfolio and a great understanding of how the world of Digital Media works. Looking back, the training and experience I have gained has been unparalleled to anything I could have expected from a graduate role out of uni.
I have been quickly brought up to speed of how everything works, but also how the best people in the industry operate. SearchStar is a warm, welcome and friendly company with a great social atmosphere and plenty of opportunity. I can only recommend working here for your first job out of uni.
If you are interested in working for SearchStar please get in touch! We are looking for hard workers with a positive attitude and a love for numbers and marketing. You can read more about our graduate scheme here, or if you're already sold drop a CV to hello@search-star.co.uk and say hello!
