Want to know what work experience is really like?
Last week we were joined by Brooke, an A-Level student from Charters School in Ascot. Brooke joined us at Rawnet during a busy admin and marketing week, as we were organising our Service Design event in London.
We first met Brooke at the annual BIMA Digital Day in November 2017. A free initiative for both schools and agencies, Digital Day sees digital professionals head back to school for a day to inspire secondary students (13-16 years), give them insight into the depth and breadth of careers available, offer practical advice on how to get into digital, and get hands-on experience tackling challenges with companies like Rawnet. We were delighted to receive an email from Brooke, requesting to complete her work experience with us and it was an absolute pleasure to have her join the team for a week!
Why I’m drawn to digital
Stepping into the Rawnet office was a real Narnia moment for me. I was immediately confronted with the spectacular illustrations from Rawnet’s very own Designer, Cat Lines. The entire office is a truly inspiring creative space and such a lovely environment to work in. Their wall of awards to the right of me affirmed my out of depth feelings and sheer awe at the success and standard of work accomplished here. I was soon greeted by the lovely Head of Talent, Rebecca, and we sat down to have a chat about my aspirations and interests, making me feel very comfortable from the get-go.
My first port of call was with the Design team. Being completely oblivious to the world of design, having the Lead Designer, MJ, break his job role down to me was so helpful. I was introduced to some of the software they use and some of the projects they were working on - it was amazing to see clients such as ITV Livewires, that I was so familiar with, partnered with Rawnet.
I then had an introduction to Project Management with Liam; he ran through with me what he does and how he coordinates the different teams. Extreme organisation and working towards deadlines, as well as being in constant communication with the clients, are things Liam does every day - never a dull moment. Project management was something I was initially interested in and is a career many of my own family have chosen to do - runs in the family I guess!
Something I saw throughout my time at Rawnet was the consistent care every employee had with their client, especially those who specifically handled the accounts - the Account Managers, Fran, Jade and Sam, plus Claire, the Client Services Director. I was surprised to see how the clients were so closely and intricately managed. The cliché saying “people buy from people” was something that became very distinct very quickly. Minor details like knowing the names of your client representative’s children, to which cake flavour is their favourite to have at meetings, are all things that to me seemed a truly personal touch. I feel like sometimes people forget that on the end of the email or phone call is a person, it can all become overly professional and cold. So it was good that Rawnet helped me understand the importance of maintaining relationships with your clients.
Next I spent some time with the Marketing team, firstly with Abi, the Marketing Manager of Rawnet’s bespoke product, ONE. She gave me some tasks to complete, including writing up some adverts for a survey she was doing for LinkedIn and Twitter and also researching into current broadcast topics for some blog post ideas. Sitting there with my Rawnet branded mug of tea, researching on Abi’s Macbook was very surreal - I felt like part of the team!
Thursday was a very exciting but nerve-racking day. Rawnet were hosting a Service Design event in London as part of a series that Marketing Manager, Nick, had created. It included speakers such as Alberta Soranzo from Lloyds Bank, Blaise Galinier from the BBC, Jack Fletcher from Co-op, Matteo Ramondini from Shelter and Rawnet’s own Managing Director, Adam Smith. Service Design is a very current topic in the industry, with the event bringing in over 60 people interested in how to improve customer experience. Whilst listening to what the speakers had to say, I was also given the responsibility to help run Rawnet’s Instagram page throughout, as well as signing the guests in at the beginning - juggling lanyards and lists and leaflets. The event was an absolute success and it was great to have made an impact.
Towards the end of the week, I sat down with Harry from the Strategy team and he explained to me his role as well as some of the digital marketing techniques he uses. I had previously learnt a bit about this through a digital course I had done with Google but Harry helped me to further my understanding, as well as sending me some more links to keep educating myself. As this industry moves so quickly, the constant evolution requires me to keep learning - that’s one of the reasons I’m drawn to digital. He also went down a different route to get to where he is today: many choose university but he chose an apprenticeship. As I’m making these decisions now I was grateful for Harry to give me some of his insight.
I finished off my week back with the lovely Account Managers, attending their weekly meeting. I assisted Fran with forecasting research, helping the agency find more efficient and accurate ways to forecast sales.
I had an absolutely amazing week with Rawnet, I developed my skills and knowledge of the inner workings of a digital agency and got a real taste for the industry. I feel confident in my career path and would love to join an agency like this when I finish my education. Thank you to everyone at Rawnet for making me feel very welcome and for giving me such a great opportunity - I hope to return soon!
