Many business avoid hiring young people due to the lack of experience and the perceived investment of time needed to get them on board and up to speed . The question is how much are those business missing out on talent, new ideas and the benefit of seeing things from a different perspective.
This year I was lucky enough to work with a student on their work experience placement. Evie, 17, is from Sharnbrook Academyand is studying for her A levels. During her time with me I set a specific task around a creative campaign on social media.
Although Evie is a digital native and spends a significant time in social media she had never completed a campaign across multiple social media channels or published a blog on WordPress so this was all new to her.
Training
As with anyone completing a new task a certain amount of training is required but not always a significant amount of time. This is where businesses often fail to invest even with recruits of all ages. Too many times I have seen new employees fail due to the lack of proper training. Quite simply they are not given a proper chance to succeed!
Training Evie didn’t take any longer training anyone else, she was keen to learn and quick to pick up new ideas and concepts.
The brief
The success of any campaign is dependent upon creating a clear brief with tangible targets. No brief is set in stone and improvements can always be made. Evie approached the briefing process in a mature manner providing great feedback and recommendations that resulted in us bringing TikTok into the mix. The quality of her copywriting and graphic creation exceeded my expectations. Evie’s work resulted in three out of the four campaign targets being met. Well done Evie!
Placements
Next time you are offered an opportunity to place a work experience candidate into your team, go for it!
“Work experience remains an integral part of the sixth form at Sharnbrook. Being able to spend time in a workplace provides students with the opportunity to gain experience in a sector they may be considering as a future career or vocation, equally, working with business professionals gives students a taste of life in a full-time job, and the expectations of the 9 to 5, meeting deadlines and working with others.
Companies such as GreenOpal, are integral to this and we are always grateful for the time they and others are able to give to students.”
Daniel Baxby, Director of Sixth Form, Sharnbrook Academy
I often work with clients that have very little digital experience or are self taught. My greatest joy is to pass on my knowledge to my clients so that they have a greater understanding of digital marketing and develop their own skills. If you are looking to grow your digital experience why not get in touch.