When I first entered Q6, I had no idea what to expect of my week here at NCFE. Thoughts of the best possible scenario alongside the worst made me a bag of nerves sitting at the reception. I’ve never had an in-depth experience of marketing and PR, so I was really entering the unknown in quite a few aspects. I tried to find out whatever I could about the organisation beforehand.
However, I knew that however much I researched, nothing could prepare me for stepping into the world of work. I can happily say that my best case scenario thoughts were right; friendly and approachable staff and tasks that challenged me but wouldn’t give me a migraine. As the week went on, I gained more and more knowledge of the marketing world and I felt more confident and comfortable within the workplace.
The first day began with some proofreading of the organisation’s staff newsletter, and after finding one or two small issues, my finds were being praised. After having the quick tour of Q6 and getting to meet some more of the welcoming staff, lunch quickly arrived. I enjoyed my break tucking into a ham and cheese toastie and playing some darts before heading back up to the office to observe a live webinar which the NCFE team were sponsoring.
I was then assigned the task of writing a press release about the organisation’s latest charity donation to Sports Relief. Lindsay, PR Officer, was looking after me and gave me some guidance before I began. I finished the press release off, sent it to Lindsay for feedback and headed home.
On the second day, I managed to meet more of the Marketing Team, got given a lot of free merchandise and completed more tasks. I was given an events task by Events Co-ordinator Vicki, where I had to find 4 unique venues in London within budget, in a central location and with a celebrity speaker. This task really helped me improve my research skills and helped me find good resources that could possibly assist me in similar tasks in school.
My second task was to use survey monkey, the website used by NCFE to make their company surveys to find out more about staff and customers. After knocking up a few random questions, I sent my survey out to the team and it was met with amused responses. I then wrote a blog post to go onto the NCFE website and had it proofread alongside my press release from yesterday. Lindsay praised my efforts and also pointed out where I could improve my writing. I made the suggested amends and called it a day.
My third day was mainly web-based as I worked with Natasha in Digital Marketing, who showed me how to post to and update the NCFE website. She set me a few tasks to see if I understood what I was doing and after learning the ropes, I was ready to post my blog onto the website. With no more tasks to do, I carried on with digital marketing and did some small photo editing tasks before leaving.
On day four, the scary thought that three days had gone already kept going through my mind. I had been sent a massive list of tasks to keep me busy including; sorting e-mail statistics, proofreading a document from Marcus and sending an e-mail inviting customers to an event in London about Apprenticeships. It was also rather scary knowing that tomorrow was going to be my last day.
My last day has mainly been devoted to writing this, saying my goodbyes and thanking the team. I also have been let loose updating NCFE’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts with NCFE’s weekly ‘#dayinthelife’ feature.
Well that’s my week pretty much summed up, and I can happily say that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. I’d like to thank everyone I’ve worked with this week for making me feel welcome and just being the generally lovely people that you all are! I am grateful to have had a very positive and memorable work experience and I’m glad to have shared it with the people I’ve worked with. It’s been a pleasure.
