In this edition, we chatted with four of our nine 2022 Bootcamp cohort, Hannah, Adelphi, Molly and Beth, as they’ve just completed their final week of training and have become fully-fledged Account Executives. We explore what brought them to Medialab, the training programme they’ve undertaken, and their highlights over the last six weeks.

MORNINGS

We all get in, say our hellos and settle down, I think we’ve claimed Medialab’s open plan downstairs working area as our own! Of course, we have to grab some tea or coffee and cereal from the kitchen (a nice perk of working in the office!) before we catch up with our colleagues. Everyone has been super welcoming; you definitely get a strong sense that you could go up to anyone and ask for their help or advice!

Next, is an hour of individual learning. We are all studying content for two important qualifications – IPA Effectiveness and TV Masters, so it’s important that we carve out time for this. Then our in-person training starts at 10 am and finishes around midday.

The Bootcamp training programme covered all media channels, as well as learning about Media Planning and how to be a great client leader, and a deep dive into our bespoke marketing intelligence platform, Apollo. We had a whole week focused on digital, and the next TV and then print (offline). For the digital week, specialists from Medialab, and Media partners including TikTok, Meta and Pinterest, took time to teach us about what they do, and ultimately what we’ll be doing. We applied our learnings in a practical task, which we did each week of training, across each media channel. It was always super collaborative, and one task we particularly enjoyed was putting together a practice pitch for Nick, our Integration Director, for a charity client of Medialab. This involved mapping out a brief, thinking about who our audience would be, and what media channels we would use. We were introduced to consumer research tools like YouGov and Touchpoints and then presented our work back to the team as if we were presenting to a client.

LUNCH

We’ll always have lunch together and being in Oxford Circus means there is so much to choose from. Sometimes we’ll go fancy – a hot meal, take-away, or it’s more often a meal deal – can’t beat it! No matter what, we always make sure to go for a walk, as although the office is lovely and the foyer is a top lunch spot, fresh air is always welcomed.

AFTERNOON

We have started fully integrating into our client teams now. On our first day, we were each introduced to our mentor, buddy and line manager. Our buddies were previous Bootcampers, who have been through it all before, so we’ve got a shared experience to talk about. Our mentor is there to support us across anything and everything, from specific work that is relevant to our role, to career advice. And finally, our line manager provides guidance and ensures that we are keeping up with all the technical work and understanding our jobs as Account Executives.

LATE AFTERNOON

On Thursday afternoons, we’ll head down to Collablab – a weekly meeting where the whole company comes together and listens to someone share a piece of work or talk about an interesting update. It’s definitely one of those moments when you properly feel like part of the company. Recently, we heard from a couple of Client Planners, Caitlin and Katie, who presented their learnings from a recent campaign we delivered for one of our partners Mind, which ended up winning the ‘Best Marketing for Good’ campaign at the Digital Cinema Awards! A great way to end the week and celebrate together!

WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO MEDIALAB

Molly: I was working at the Tate Modern for years and in the hospitality industry, but this last year I’ve been doing freelance blog writing which was my route into marketing. It opened my eyes to what I could be doing. I will say that even though this is an entry role, the interview process really felt like they were trying to get to know us as people; it didn’t matter whether we had a marketing degree or zero experience, if they saw the potential then you were a good fit. For instance, some of us are in our late twenties, some didn’t go to University and some are fresh graduates. It didn’t matter as long as you had the right frame of mind.

Beth: I was an insurance broker for four years. There are a lot of transferable skills there, but it was still scary, changing field, as I thought ‘oh this is all I know’, but I’m so glad I did. I had helped the marketing team at my previous company, which I found I loved way more than my actual role, so I looked for somewhere that offered standardised training, as I didn’t go to university, which has been incredibly comprehensive and useful at Medialab.

Hannah: I was teaching English in China for the past couple of years, so quite the change in industry, and country! However, I have been quite involved and interested in charity and volunteering work, where I had the opportunity to dabble in marketing, so the interest has always been there. Similar to Beth, I was looking for somewhere that I’d be upskilled and not just ‘thrown in’. I feel like I manifested this opportunity because it was so perfect for what I was looking for!

Adelphi: I graduated in 2021, I did English and Creative Writing at University. I had done marketing, TV and offline for a small family business since I was 15, so there’s a very clear line from university to a sort of side-hustle job to an actual job. The training is definitely what drew me to the position, and the fact you were trained together was very appealing.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR HIGHLIGHT OVER THE LAST SIX WEEKS?

Offline work has been a highlight, it was great to see the journey of how an advert gets placed; how it ends up on a billboard or in a magazine. It’s definitely made us more aware of the advertising we walk past every day and the amount of thought that goes into placing an ad. Also, the comprehensive nature of the training has been great, and we feel like we’ve been given the opportunity to learn all areas of media and marketing. We don’t get the Sunday scaries anymore, we genuinely enjoy coming into the office and, as cheesy as it sounds, making friends as we all get on so well which has been a massive bonus!