What I learnt at work experience

by Lana De Souza, sixth form student at Archbishop Holgate’s School

Work experience is a concept where you either love it or hate it. In my case, I have loved it! Throughout my work experience at Katie Lingo, I have learnt a lot of new things and gained a deeper understanding of marketing ideas and practices. This has helped me to develop a more comprehensive and organised approach to marketing. In one week, I got to be part of a talented and creative little team where I felt nicely welcomed!

My week at Katie Lingo

During my week at Katie Lingo, I worked on a variety of projects, from having a go at brand exercises to creating social media posts. In this blog, I will share my reflections of my work experience, including the skills I developed and how they have impacted my future career goals.

On the first day, we went around and I met some new people. I met someone called David, who was enthusiastic about giving me things to crack on with. He has plans for a website and a product called Patio Bright. I helped him with conducting keyword research and optimising website content for search engines.

Using tools such as UberSuggest, I developed effective calls to action to improve website design and find out ways to answer questions about the patio cleaner. This experience allowed me to further develop my skills in content creation. I also gained valuable insights into the importance of conducting thorough market research and developing user-centred designs to improve the overall customer experience. I even learned that people used bleach to clean their patio, which I found bizarre!

On the same day, I had the opportunity to learn about Google Analytics 4, a tool for tracking website traffic and user behaviour. I watched several videos and took detailed notes on how to set up and navigate the platform, as well as how to interpret key metrics such as:

• Bounce rate
• Conversion rate
• Average session duration.

I then applied this knowledge to gather data on our website’s traffic, user demographics, and behaviour patterns. Through this experience, I gained a deeper understanding of how to use data and summarise key points. This was really helpful as I sometimes struggle when writing notes.

Working with charities

Over next few days, I had the opportunity to work on a variety of marketing projects, including:

• Developing social media campaigns
• Creating promotional materials
• Optimising website accessibility.

I also got to grips with Canva, a graphic design tool, to create visually appealing and engaging social media posts. I gained valuable insights into the importance of making social media posts more accessible to people with visual impairments by implementing features such as alt text, colour contrast, and screen reader compatibility. This project was for a charity called Deafblind UK, and I learned that you need to have these things in mind before creating posts.

In this case, I used Canva to have a trial at creating posts for them with accompanying alt text. Overall, I did really enjoy using Canva as it gives you lots of templates which helped me to implement ideas for the posts. I look forward to experimenting with it in the future.

A comprehensive learning experience

In conclusion, my marketing work experience at Katie Lingo was incredibly valuable and taught me a great deal about marketing, business, and myself. Through working on real-world marketing projects, navigating challenges, and developing new skills, I gained a deeper understanding of what it takes to succeed in the marketing industry.

Katie Lingo has also helped me to clarify my career aspirations. Through working on the marketing projects and seeing the impact they can have, I have realised that I have a real passion for marketing and that I want to pursue a career in this field. I have seen first-hand how marketing can make a difference for businesses and how exciting it can be to develop campaigns that resonate with audiences. I feel more confident in my decision to pursue a career in marketing.