Samuel Moore

In recent years I have been working with a Digital Marketing Agency called Bluesky Interactive, who specialise in building and marketing websites for car dealerships. My role within this company has seen me play a key role in the building, maintaining, and marketing of various websites and become a key part of a large team who work with some of the leading car dealerships across the United Kingdom. With such a wide range of services and responsibilities, no two days are the same and I have enjoyed the variety of work that the job has brought me.

As part of my responsibilities, I work on a daily basis with a high caseload for a range of our clients to build and maintain websites, implement marketing campaigns, and create innovative marketing solutions for our clients. This job requires day-to-day use of front-end programming languages as well as working with bespoke back-end systems built on ASP.NET and specifically designed for car dealerships. We also make use of GitHub and a range of popular development tools. The job involves regular use of Adobe software such as Photoshop and Dreamweaver, as well as Microsoft Office applications.

My role has allowed me to demonstrate many skills, including managing a heavy caseload of tasks which have to be completed to a deadline, communicating and working with many departments to accomplish goals and being a positive and productive team player. I have played an active role in the integration of new members and training them on our bespoke systems and processes. I have a responsibility to constantly liaise with the company Senior Management Team and the business client base delivering formal and informal presentations both face to face and online.

I first joined 8-Digital to complete a Digital Marketing Apprenticeship and to gain valuable experience within a local Digital Marketing agency. At 8-Digital, I had a range of Digital Marketing responsibilities within a small and close-knit team. These included building and maintaining websites to a brief provided by a client, improving website Search Engine Optimisation, managing Social Media accounts and overseeing and managing external developers. I was chiefly in charge of all development practices at the business, and this was a role which required strong management, communication, and time-keeping skills. This role also required me to communicate directly with clients and present myself and the business in a professional manner.

As a result of managing all development activities, I had to show great organisational and time-management skills, as well as great communication with both other team members and the clients we worked with. My work with websites allowed me to put my self-taught knowledge of programming languages to use in a role which required both front and back-end work.

The websites we build principally used the Content Management System WordPress, but also used others such as Magento and Shopify. I worked primarily with PHP as a back-end language. Outside of development, I played an important role in the creation of SEO and PPC campaigns for our clients and independently created email campaigns for both internal use as well as for clients. This job required frequent use of both Adobe and Microsoft Office applications, as well Basecamp, Skype, and Slack.

I have been fortunate that I have a mentor that has over 10 years’ experience of delivering apprenticeship qualifications. It is through this opportunity I have been able to see first-hand how the whole apprenticeship programme unfolds from Onboarding to Gateway and onto EPA.

I have attended various work experience opportunities over the years to familiarise myself with training and assessment. The first of these was going to the ITV Studios in Manchester to observe and assist in the delivery of Management qualifications to senior managers. It was through this experience that I first decided that this was a line of work I wished to one day go into and have kept a keen interest in this career choice ever since.

A very recent example of experience in training and assessment was being given the opportunity to attend and assist my mentor in the coaching and training of an apprentice undergoing training towards the end of the qualification programme. I was able to gain valuable experience in coaching and mentoring with a learner by carrying out both a Mock EPA Skills and Professional Discussion Tests producing evaluation documentation.

Whilst attending Sixth Form I took the opportunity to take an internship during my summer break. Due to my interest in technology and Digital Marketing, I was able to secure an internship at BrightHouse after impressing them in an interview. I spent several weeks working with their Digital Marketing team, gaining vital experience in not just Digital Marketing but also office work culture. This opportunity helped me to pick up knowledge in regards to Web Development, Search Engine Optimisation and the role of Marketing campaigns within modern businesses. My experience during my internship convinced me that I wanted to enter into Digital Marketing as a career path.

During my Internship, I got to work with both the Marketing and Web Development departments, taking part in numerous meetings and creating presentations for upcoming marketing campaigns. I also took the opportunity to understand the inner workings of a national organisation and the expectations that such an environment brings.

Whilst I was attending Sixth Form, I took an opportunity to do work experience with Cherwell District Council as part of their Human Resources department. I thought this would be a great way of learning about how organisations work and understanding office culture. I saw this as an opportunity to meet new people and try new things, something I have always tried to do.

During this work experience, I got to work with part of a team of people, taking part in meetings as well as responding to phone calls and emails to help manage a heavy workload. This experience helped me to understand Human Resources and its role within organisations, as well as the sort of issues encountered and dealt with by the department. I enjoyed the opportunity to learn about working productively as part of a team and communicate effectively with individuals across an organisation.