In Part 1, Juste describes the application for the Micro Placement programme. Here is the rest of her story about the placement:
“My placement is remote, meaning I have been working from home due to the pandemic.”
Skills gained
I would have liked to be able to travel to the office and physically meet all the stuff to make most of the experience. However, this is what has made it unique and I have learnt different ways to adapt to working from home such as, setting an alarm and starting work at 9am every morning!
As it is a Marketing placement, I have learnt how to make professional social media posts promoting the organisation and its projects. I make the posts using a design app called Canva! I have also learnt how to create graphics, animated designs and edit photos.
This really boosted my creative skills, as I was able to explore and play around with the different features of the app and as a result, come up with great designs for the promotional posts. I also have control over the organisation’s social media platforms, and I decide which promotional posts to share and when. This really helped me become more organised!
Challenges
One of the main challenges was the fact that the placement is remote – there were times when it was difficult to communicate with the staff about the tasks set out for me. My supervisor had a busy schedule, meaning that there wasn’t always time for online meetings and instead I would communicate with my supervisor via text on Microsoft Teams (an app that allows a group of people to have conversations).
This was time consuming when it came to discussing different tasks, as we would have to send messages back and forth and wait for replies.
The Positives
The positives of the placement were mainly learning more about Marketing!
It was also great to be doing something that I know was going to benefit me career wise – as this placement wasn’t only about gaining transferable skills, but also giving more of an idea of what it would be like to have a career in Marketing. Even though, my course is Criminology and Sociology, it’s good to keep your mind and options open for different career paths!
My final thoughts
Overall, it was a great experience doing my placement at home, I learnt a lot more about marketing and got to practise some marketing skills such as, creating posts for social media platforms using a variety of design apps.
Personally I felt the application process was stressful – I remember booking multiple appointments with Careers Consultants to check my CV and my application. As well as, preparing for the interview, assessment centre and then another interview with the company once I was chosen.
However, I am glad I did it, as I gained valuable skills during the placement and I feel more confident in going into interviews.
If you want to find out more and apply for a placement take a look at the Micro Placement Programme in more detail here.
For more information:
- Watch this short video to see how one of our students got on during their Micro-Placement.
- If you have any questions about the Micro-Placements Programme, get in touch with the team by emailing: Micro-Placements@city.ac.uk
- Or look up our website for more information.
