From University to the Working World: Alice’s marketing communications placement

My job role involves assisting my manager with day to day marketing tasks, campaigns, and projects. Through the job I get to oversee Atlas Copco UK Compressors social media posts on various platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, to me this is really empowering. I create posts based on the hot topics of the Compressors division, whether that be new product releases, new industry insights or general updates. I am also responsible for creating webpages for the Atlas Copco UK site using Adobe Experience Manager, processing purchasing orders through for suppliers, liaising with external marketing contacts and I also produce reports which reflect on the online presence of Atlas Copco UK compressors. In the future, I will be organising and attending various exhibitions across the duration of the year which should be really interesting. I found the overall recruitment process straightforward and very pleasant, due to the format of the selection day consisting of a group assessment and a simple interview. My thoughts and feelings on application day were that I was extremely determined to get the job after having the morning at Atlas Copco UK headquarters in Hemel Hempstead. This was because of how warm and welcoming the environment was. For instance, the calm and productive activity based working system seemed to provide flexibility and efficiency in employees. During the selection day, the group activities, tours and discussions with the previous Year in Industry students allowed me feel calm and focused meaning and I felt so much more at ease than previous interviews I have attended.

The transition into the 'working world' has been slightly difficult due to just how overwhelming things can be at first, however now that I am a month into my placement I feel completely settled into the company. I now feel really content with the job role and I feel extrememly grateful to have this experience. Despite the challenging aspects of the job I am trying to embrace every opportunity which comes my way, through becoming knowledgeable in a myriad of different skill sets; such as becoming increasingly sociable on a professional level so that I can build solid relationships with colleagues.

I believe my self-confidence has increased massively, I find myself talking to new people at the office with ease and I am able to take my own initiative with tasks I previously found that I doubted myself with being able to pull off independently. I have learned a manifold of skill sets including; IT expertise, knowledge in compressors, proficiency in Adobe Experience Manager, social media content skills through the aid of Orlo (a marketing content creating platform), the ability to navigate through SAP SRM software and I am now also capable of independently gathering information and reporting with statistics.

My personal highlight of the year so far is attending the leaving drinks evening for the previous Year in Industry students as I was given the opportunity to meet three generations of people who had my specific job role, who had travelled for the evening. This was really interesting as I discovered how the role has evolved over time through the way in which marketing has become increasingly digitalised, they also gave me lots of advice on the job role which has been really helpful. The evening also allowed me to get to know my colleagues better which meant I felt closer to everyone.