About me
My name is Fred, and I am a Paid Search Pioneer/ Digital Marketing Apprentice at mSix&Partners. It’s been a year since my journey began with mSix, and it feels like only yesterday when I first stepped inside the old London office at 7 Rathbone Street.
After spending one year at University, I decided that it wasn’t the route for me. I found myself leaning towards looking to work full-time whilst getting a qualification as I felt like this would suit me better. So, life at Uni came to an end and a couple of part-time jobs later, I decided to start looking at apprenticeships.
The apprenticeship
I came across Multiverse on the internet. Multiverse is a Professional Apprenticeship provider for young adults, giving them an alternative route to university, whilst being able to gain a qualification and work full-time concurrently. This seemed like a no brainer for me, and so I decided to sign up and start applying for various apprenticeships in the London area.
The apprenticeship that caught my eye was the Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship. Having studied Marketing at Uni, I felt like this could be the one that suited me best.
After a few months of applying to different companies that facilitate the apprenticeship scheme, I got an interview request come through from none other than mSix&Partners. The interview was successful and a few days later I got the job offer to work in the Paid Search Department during the apprenticeship. An offer I certainly could not refuse.
Life at mSix&Partners
I settled in very quickly at mSix due to the natural warmth and kindness within the office. I was welcomed instantly and made friendships during the first few days that I still have today. From my immediate team to the wider company, everyone made me feel at home, which really helped settle the nerves- making my experience an enjoyable one from the get-go.
What also helped a great deal, were my fellow apprentices who joined at the same time as me. Having people in my position to go through this experience with me has been great, as we are always there to help each other when necessary and made sure we all got the best out of each other, both professionally and personally.
It is never a dull day at mSix due to the sheer number of socials and events they put on for their staff. From Sports Days in the summer, to a fancy Christmas party at some of the most pristine venues in London. From meeting Rio Ferdinand and listening to him talk about the new social media app he is ambassador for, to ITV bringing in live snakes and spiders as a part of the Executive Academy Day collab with I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, there’s always something going on at mSix to cater for every individual. I have also just been put in charge of organising a bowling social for the Paid Search department. This is great as it shows that everybody has a say in what types of fun we can have, from Directors to Apprentices, everyone’s voices can be heard.
Work / apprenticeship balance
Both Multiverse and mSix have been very accommodating in helping me work both on my apprenticeship as well as my work tasks. I started off by fitting the apprenticeship work around my daily work duties, but this wasn’t really working out for me as I was struggling to concentrate on one or the other. Therefore, I decided to work on my apprenticeship only on Fridays. This worked well as only 20% of my week is spent on focussing on completing apprenticeship tasks.
Finding the right balance is the key to everything you do, both in the office and in your personal life. Making sure that you structure the right amount of time in your day-to-day life will lead to you to become a more successful individual and will enable you to push yourself further in your own journey through life.
Tips for a successful apprenticeship
If you like the sound of an apprenticeship in the media industry and want an alternative route to university, then I seriously recommend getting yourself enrolled into one. I guarantee that you will pick up many skills that will be intrinsic in your first few years to full time employment, and the connections and friendships you build will only help you progress, both professionally and personally.
Or if you don’t feel like an apprenticeship will be suited to you, then there are many routes you can take to get your foot in the door at mSix or any marketing agency in general. The internet has an abundance of jobs waiting for you to apply for, and there’s no time like the present.
My advice for anyone starting an apprenticeship with mSix or any other company for that matter, would be to make sure that you are always communicating with your manager and apprenticeship coach to make sure that they are in the loop on what you are doing and any help you may require along the way. They are there to assist you in your journey, so make sure to be open and honest with them, as this will be the best way for you to complete the apprenticeship with as low stress as possible.
I struggled doing this at the start but then realised that it’s ok to not know how to do something, even if you think that it’s a task that can be easily completed. It’s better to ask for help than not and no one will look down at you. They will only be annoyed if you don’t ask for help and get the task completely wrong or don’t meet the deadlines that you have been set.
I would also recommend using all the material that the apprenticeship has to offer, with countless online talks, articles, and workshops, make sure you get the most out of them to soak up as much knowledge as possible. This will make your apprenticeship run a lot smoother and will also make you are more competent digital marketer in general as you can always pick up what you learn in your apprenticeship and apply it in your day-to-day work.
What the future holds for me at mSix&Partners
My future at mSix looks exciting to say the least. Later this month I will be giving a talk to a whole new cohort of apprentices joining The&Academy up in Birmingham. My fellow apprentice Zoe and I will be talking to the new recruits about the day in the life of an apprentice, sharing our experience so far and some tips for them to think about throughout their own journey.
The great thing about working at a company like mSix is that there are so many branches of work that you get in to within the organisation. I work in Paid Search, but there are loads of channels which I could try and see if it suits me better than my current role. If I was to decide later down the line that I wanted to change roles, then mSix would be very understanding and help facilitate the internal move, as employee satisfaction is paramount here, which is very easy to notice.
So, with many more Socials to come and hopefully another great Christmas party to go along with the upcoming World Cup, the rest of the year is shaping up very nicely. I couldn’t have asked for a better agency to work for during my apprenticeship and I am very grateful to be a member of this wonderful group of people that make up the very special mSix&Partners.