Hello! I’m Ciara and I began my new role as a marketing associate at Incremental Group in November, after initially joining the business as a summer digital marketing intern. Here’s how my journey from intern to Incrementalist has gone so far…
Degree to digital marketing intern
I graduated from the University of Strathclyde in July, having studied Marketing and Human Resource Management. Completing a degree in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic meant that during my time at university, there were very few opportunities to gain any internship or placement experiences for my chosen career path. This meant that, despite building up my own marketing experience through freelance and voluntary work on top of my part-time retail job, I didn’t feel equipped with the necessary skill set to move straight into a marketing associate/executive/assistant role after graduating.
I found that Incremental’s vacancy for a summer digital marketing intern would be perfect to kickstart my career – gaining hands-on experience and learning from skilled marketing professionals in a Microsoft Partner organisation. Although the contract was initially for 10 weeks, I knew that there was scope for career progression as Incremental is a rapidly growing company, having been acquired by Telefónica Tech in March of this year.
Learning the ropes
My experience as an intern could not have been better. Every member of the marketing team (and many other Incrementalists from across the business!) was so encouraging, providing me with the necessary knowledge to carry out my day-to-day tasks. I was assigned a buddy to ease me into the onboarding process, and my line manager could not have been more supportive in giving me valuable advice and building my confidence in my abilities.
The variation in the projects that I was given the opportunity to work on meant that I could get a taste of all different types of marketing tactics and meet lots of stakeholders across the organisation. By getting stuck into projects, I was able to learn ‘on the job’ and adapt to the fast-paced nature of a growing business. I was also able to request training in specific areas that I wanted to learn, for example, webpage building through WordPress.
My top three highlights of being a digital marketing intern were:
- Hosting the companywide monthly Lunch & Learn sessions, which are a great environment to learn the ins and outs of successful projects and meet Incrementalists in different business units.
- Doing what I love most – writing! Whether this was through blogging, social media, or website copy, I could improve my writing skills whilst learning about the services that Incremental offers at the same time.
- The Women in Tech Discovery Day, held at Incremental’s Glasgow office in collaboration with Microsoft TechHer. This event brought together women at all career stages who were interested in a career in tech and was a great opportunity to network with, and learn from, women from all backgrounds.
Above: Feeling empowered at the Women in Tech Discovery Day.
Becoming an Incrementalist
As an intern, I already felt very much like an Incrementalist. When the opportunity arose to move into a permanent role as a marketing associate, I jumped at the chance to become a permanent member of the team.
The transition from intern to marketing associate has been very well supported, with a range of onboarding meetings to meet new people and to learn key processes. This took away a lot of my worries about moving into a role that varies from my previous one.
As a permanent employee, I now have access to more of Incremental’s fantastic benefits. These include private health and medical insurance, holiday flexibility, and guaranteed learning and development – I look forward to using my half day of L&D time per week to learn new skills!
Looking to the future
As I settle into my new role, I am excited to see what the future holds with Incremental as we work closely with Telefónica Tech. I am lucky enough to learn from a fabulous team with a diverse range of experience and hope to continue to progress in marketing roles as my knowledge and experience grows. If you would like to kickstart your career with Incremental, visit our Careers Hub today or feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn for more information.