My experience as a Digital Marketing Apprentice
Charity and creativity. Not two words you would normally put together, are they? I’m Kayleigh and I’m a Digital Marketing Apprentice for St Leonard’s Hospice – it’s first in fact!
A bit about my background
Like many people after leaving school, I had no idea what I wanted to do and so progressed onto A-levels in subjects I enjoy; history, english language and photography. Each subject taught me valuable skills that I now use daily in my job; how to carry out in-depth research, how to write to appeal to different audiences, how to use a camera and how to present imagery in an engaging way. After sixth form I moved on to college where I studied an Art Foundation course. Much like my job at the Hospice, this course was extremely varied, and I tried everything from fine art to textiles. After finishing college, I worked on my own photography business, doing creative jobs for local businesses and volunteering at Oxfam.
Then, like many others, my world was turned upside down by the pandemic. That was when I began to work in a local hospital, and it was this job that made me fall in love with the healthcare setting. I was absolutely thrilled when I was offered the Digital Marketing Apprentice role at the Hospice. I feel it’s the perfect combination of creativity in an industry I feel so passionately about.
My work at the Hospice
My job is incredibly varied; from website updates and social media posts, to photographing the delicious food our kitchen staff make. A large aspect of my job involves talking to our wonderful supporters and listening to their inspiring stories of why and how they support our Hospice. This has to be the best part of my job. Meeting so many incredible people with such extraordinary lives is what I find so fulfilling. My personal interests lie within pre-loved fashion and I love working with our retail team, promoting some of the incredibly unique pieces you can pick up in any of our 12 shops or our eBay store.
Combining work with learning
All of my apprenticeship work is completed online with a company called Apprentify. It involves monthly classrooms with an incredibly knowledgeable tutor, as well as tasks to submit to an online platform. Again, these can be really varied and range from blog writing, showing how I’ve shadowed a colleague and even monthly maths and english tests. I find all of these tasks so valuable as you apply them to your workplace, helping to solidify your knowledge. The flexibility and support you’re offered by your development coach is amazing and you can really shape the apprenticeship programme to suit your own needs and the priorities of the company you are working for.
Looking to the future
I joined the Hospice at a really exciting time, with our retail offering expanding and welcoming back more volunteers post pandemic. I’m looking forward to implementing the skills I’ve learnt over the last 6 months into my role and continuing to engage with our fabulous supporters, reminding people why they support our fantastic Hospice.
If someone had told me when I left school, that I’d be working in a Hospice, I wouldn’t have believed them. I didn’t even know the role existed! I genuinely feel that all my work, volunteer, creative experience were all so valuable and relevant (though they may not have felt so at the time! ) and have lead me to the role I am in now.
The most useful piece of advice I have ever been given is just to ‘try’. When you leave school, try to get as much experience as you can in areas that you enjoy and then, further down the line, there may be an opportunity to merge them, like I have done!
