Following on from our Aspiration Digital event, we ran a student survey offering a week of work experience to one lucky winner.

Sixth form student, Mae won the competition, joining Reflect Digital for the week, shadowing the teams and learning about agency life.

Here’s a summary of her placement with us...

Monday Morning

Monday morning was a shock to the system as I woke up 2 hours earlier than usual! Shattered, I climbed out of bed and popped on my smart shirt and trousers, soon to find out that most people at Reflect Digital wore casual clothes...

I turned up to the office and met Katie the Marketing Manager! She welcomed me to the office and gave me a quick tour. As soon as I saw the Panda, Penguin, Pigeon, and Hummingbird rooms (as well as the bean bags, the pool table, and Danielle’s basketball), I quickly learnt that my week ahead at Reflect Digital was going to be jam-packed with fun activities. Katie really cared for me throughout my time at the agency, as well as the rest of the team, which I am so grateful for. It’s such a friendly and welcoming place and it’s so great that they get free breakfast there every day!

Harry

An hour later, Harry made his entrance. It didn’t take long for him to become my new best friend, and I very quickly became his new dog bed.

Design

My first introduction was to the design team, which I was really excited about as I enjoy design at school and am very fond of creative work! I shadowed the three graphic designers and learnt about their career paths and how the team ran day-to-day. I then had the opportunity to analyse a real-life design brief that the team had previously worked on. From the brief, I carried out some research and focused on the brand guidelines, I then worked on some concepts, eventually designing my own logo. I found this super interesting and it gave me a real insight on this particular role.

Search Marketing

Shortly after, I had introductions with the SEO and PPC teams, where they explained the importance of their role within the agency and how they work with the clients. I learnt all about the importance of website traffic which I found incredibly eye-opening, as I hadn’t understood the importance of this before. The teams showed me data and statistics and I found it really interesting to look at the patterns within the numbers to see how the correct marketing can have such a positive impact and increase revenue for a client.

Content

I quickly learnt that brainstorming content such as email newsletters, creating ideas and plans for social media, and planning PR is essential and an ongoing process within digital marketing. There is so much thought, time and effort that goes into every single bit of marketing to ensure Reflect Digital produces perfect marketing for their clients.

By the end of my time at Reflect Digital, I’d gained a great understanding of how all of the different teams within the agency collaborated to deliver an amazing service. Not only do the individual teams join forces to create amazing work, but they also function as a family. It’s easy to see that love and caring for one another is one of the team's core values, which is crucial for an agency to be successful. The culture in the office is one that I wish to work in in the future!

A huge thank you to Becky for this amazing experience! And many thanks to Katie, Sophie, and the rest of the team. I had an amazing time and learnt so much about myself.