In this blog we speak to Georgie, our new Digital Marketing Apprentice, an find out how she is developing a career with Pennine.
2023 started with excitement when finding out I was starting an apprenticeship in Digital Marketing with Pennine Healthcare. As a team, we work together to fulfill our purpose:
Protecting Life. Empowering Colleagues. Enriching Communities.
However, if I was asked this time last year where I could see myself now, I’m positive my answer would’ve been very different.
This time last year, I was in the process of completing my A-Levels and by March, had been accepted into Essex University studying Journalism. In my experience, there is a lot of emphasis around university being the natural progression from Sixth Form, and that’s how I thought I wanted to further my education. In September, I left home for the first time and travelled down South to start the next few years of my life.
Initially, the first few weeks were difficult – from missing home to being nervous in a completely new environment.
However, I am a realistic person and understood “it’s a natural feeling as you find your feet”.
But after a few weeks, meeting people and starting lectures, I was missing something. I wasn’t passionate about the subject I was studying and couldn’t imagine a future within Journalism. Whilst researching career opportunities, I found marketing. I didn’t really know what it was, but I liked the idea of being creative, producing my own content and working within a team to make something that I’m proud of. It left me wondering: why am I still here when I’m no longer excited about getting up in the mornings to study my chosen subject?
I had the hard conversation with my parents about leaving University and eventually decided to return home in late October to start from scratch. As soon as I got home, I returned to my part-time job but still had aspirations of additional education. I was researching potential avenues and kept coming back to marketing. I fell upon a digital marketing bootcamp and just decided to enroll. After two weeks, this led me to my interview with Pennine, which was a great opportunity to learn more about the company and showcase the skills I had learnt from the marketing course.
All these changes in a short period of time, led me to an apprenticeship with Pennine and the position I am in today.
This experience has shown me that you don’t have to move away from home to gain your independence and be successful.
I now get to work within a great company with lovely people and am supported by Pennine’s commitment to developing the careers of young people and embracing the ‘Derby Spirit’.
My First Month at Pennine
From university to an apprenticeship within three months seems like an unlikely task, but now I can finally say that where I see myself in a year, will be with the marketing team at Pennine, in the job that I want to turn into my career.
In recognition of National Apprenticeship Week, I want to share what the first month of my apprenticeship has entailed so far…
My first day involved an introduction to people in my department and around the company, really helping me understand how each department is a valuable component in the manufacturing and distributing process.
Early on, I was taken around the building and shown where each department is located, including the cleanroom and warehouse where our products are manufactured and distributed.
I had already been allocated some tasks to complete with support of the marketing team, which tested my skills and creativity. These included social content planning and competitor analysis. In particular, the competitor analysis allowed me to seek inspiration for the content planning and learn more about the how they compete as businesses with Pennine.
To learn more about marketing, specific company tools and the business, I completed some shadowing to help me learn how to use certain equipment and set expectations for the type of work I would be completing in my role. This also included training in design software’s such as Adobe suite which are vital for the sector I now work in, as they are used in the creative design of projects.
In order to gain my Level 3 qualification, each week I complete 8 hours of off the job training and learning tasks set by my mentor. These include mini-assessments, revision, and skills tests.
