#IAmSocial Grad Scheme: Two Months In
Having entered my third month of the We Are Social grad scheme, one thing is becoming indisputably clear: the name is a very accurate reflection of the nature of this agency! Moving from Copenhagen to London and starting from scratch seemed daunting at first, but the culture at We Are Social along with the personality of everyone here just makes the transition to being a fully fledged Londoner a genuine pleasure. Over the course of the first two months, there have been several Fridays out with the whole office, cross-department lunches and, of course, Oktoberfest!
On a more serious note, there’s also the enormous personal and professional benefits of the grad scheme itself.
What’s the deal with #IAmSocial Grad Scheme?
I attended the assessment day for the grad scheme back in March, which feels like an eternity ago now. The scheme was exactly what I was looking for when I graduated this summer. Over the course of six months, I will be rotating through pretty much every single department at We Are Social. I started out in Strategy and just finished my stint in Research & Insight. Next up is Creative and then I’ll be doing Editorial, Client Services, Production, Design, Tech & Dev, Marketing and Paid Media. In short, I’ll get a chance to try out almost every job in the agency and, more importantly, I will get a first-hand insight into how all the pieces of an agency work and fit together.
What have I worked on so far?
Starting out in Strategy gave me a chance to understand the challenges that brands and clients face, and research the trends that might shape or impact them. Throughout the first rotation, I also got the chance to work on our newest campaign for YouTube by taking part in focus groups and doing research on creators, their fans and channels. In spite of a slight overdose of beauty videos, it’s amazing to have a job where I can actually watch YouTube for a living!
In Research & Insight, I’ve had the chance to work with a lot of tools and platforms to obtain data from social platforms and analyse demographic social trends. I’ve written and modified queries to find conversations about specific topics, coded them up so they could be quantified, and analysed them to draw out social insights, which are then uses to establish a strategy for the brand. For a spreadsheet-nut like me, it’s been extremely valuable to learn how to use these tools to organise, analyse and, most importantly, clearly present the data that comes out of them. Social insights and data are some of the cornerstones of what makes We Are Social such a well-functioning agency, so it’s been great to understand just how R&I goes about creating them.
My love for the agency life
I’ve always wanted to work in an agency. Two months in, I’m still extremely thrilled to have gotten the opportunity to not only join a prestigious grad scheme but also do it at We Are Social.
Of course, it’s also a big plus that drinks and beer are a regular staple of London agency life. Every Friday, at precisely 4PM, the fire alarm is tested. Why do we care? Because it means the alcohol fridges are unlocked and the rush is on to secure one of the coveted bottles of Prosecco. At the time of writing this, that is happening in five minutes, so thanks for reading and I’ll catch you next month!
If you’d like join Casper and the Prosecco at We Are Social, then check out our Careers page – although the grad scheme isn’t open at the moment, there are plenty of other opportunities…
Share your thoughts