I started my week at CWA bright and early Monday morning (5:45 wake up!). Naturally, I was a bit nervous going into a new environment. However, I had a feeling everyone would be welcoming, kind and engaging - based on a brief phone call with Sofia Woodroffe (Business Administrator) and Leigh White (HR and Office Manager).
Both Sofia and Leigh supported me with a range of tasks throughout my week to make my experience valuable and to help me develop my understanding of future career paths. Coming into the week, I had no clear expectations. When my college asked what I was aiming to gain from CWA, I simply answered “experience”- I didn’t realize how much knowledge, confidence and direction I would gain in such a short time.
The inviting and homely environment made me feel more comfortable, allowing me to learn new opportunities rather than remaining the slightly anxious person I had been on Monday morning.
One of the first things I was met with was… ducks, a lot of ducks. They were spread across the whole office from my desk to all through to the café area. I was honestly, very confused at first, but after having been on a tour with Sofia, I learnt they had something to do with coding (I think?). After being introduced to the inspiring values, culture and history of CWA I knew I had made the right choice for my work experience.
I had been tasked with interviewing staff from across the business, creating a presentation of my findings and then finally writing this blog about my experience. CWA being a full-service agency, meant that I had the opportunity to talk to designers, account managers and more. This gave me a wide range of advice from people of all different areas of the industry.
I spent Tuesday helping Sofia and Leigh with a variety of tasks, learning how small contributions fit into a bigger picture. Although they were slightly repetitive, they helped me to become more focussed and prepared to develop high-quality interview questions. I then mock interviewed Sofia, where I learned about her journey to CWA-which surprisingly started with wanting to be a nurse!
Next, it was time for the real thing. Wednesday was when I interviewed some of the lovely team members at CWA. While my goal was to gather information for my presentation, I also wanted to build my understanding of the marketing industry and how I might fit into it in the future. I learnt plenty about people’s journeys and how they ended up joining the team at CWA there were people with unexpected opportunities all the way to people who had planned this career their whole life. This showed me how many pathways there are into CWA and the marketing industry.
Alongside this, I started developing creative ideas for the agency’s social media including a concept where one of the many ducks gives a tour of the office and another where the staff would get involved in the footy!
Towards the end of my week, I focused on creating and delivering my presentation based on everything I learned. Presenting my findings to Sofia and Leigh helped me to develop skills such as presentation design and confidence when presenting.
I would like to thank everyone at CWA for a brilliant week! A special thank you goes to Leigh and Sofia for planning my experience so thoughtfully, and everyone who participated in my interviews – I truly appreciate each and every one of you. This experience has given me not only valuable skills but also the confidence and inspiration to take my first steps towards a future in the creative industry.
