A few years ago now we helped our first-ever graduate, Caitlin Dillon, into her dream marketing job at JustBeagle. 100 hires later, we decided to catch up with her and tell her story.
Caitlin now works as a Programmatic Consultant.
“When it came to hunting for a graduate job, I felt lost.
“I studied Psychology and Education and it seemed like the vast majority of people on my course knew exactly what they wanted to do: become a teacher or an educational psychologist.
“I felt a bit lost in comparison because it was actually the psychology side of things that I enjoyed more. However, I didn’t know if I was ready to begin the long qualification process to become a registered psychologist.
“I wanted to get out into work quicker than that and kickstart my career.
I was browsing Masters courses one day when I found one at Leeds in Advertising & Marketing which looked great. I realised a lot of the skills I developed whilst studying were transferable, and something clicked – I knew I’d enjoy it and was so excited.
I knew that an MA would help me get into the advertising/marketing industry. My application was successful and things moved quickly from there.
“Because I was having a subject change, I was drawn to DigitalGrads as I knew the courses would help introduce me to marketing over the summer before starting my MA, essentially giving me a head start.
“I applied online and then as soon as I spoke with Lucy I felt really grateful to have her support.
“Being new to the working world I had a lot to learn, but I felt reassured.
“The DigitalGrads team were extremely supportive and it feels like they fast-tracked my journey into the industry.
“I got matched with a legal services company called JustBeagle to support their social media marketing.
“My tasks revolved around organic strategies for growth on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I gained experience in those platforms, on scheduling tools like Hootsuite, and in planning and strategising.
“After the course, JustBeagle offered to extend my position, so I worked on a part-time, freelance basis for them for a while longer.
“This meant we could continue growing the brand on socials, and I could fit the work around my MA.
“It was amazing to be able to do both at the same time, it felt like DigitalGrads did an awesome job of finding a placement that met my needs as well as the other way around.
“A few months later and the end of my MA was approaching, and having had a taste for working on social media I looked for a full time job in a similar area.
“I got a role in paid media at a digital marketing agency and then achieved a promotion within a year.
“I specialise in programmatic advertising on social platforms, display and YouTube.
“My new job is going really well! I’m lucky enough to have a great team and have seen opportunities for growth within my agency.
“I now work with a range of international clients as part of integrated, multi-channel campaigns, therefore my responsibilities definitely grew.
“I’m happy with how efficiently I was able to move from being a hopeful (but slightly confused!) graduate to being a comfortable, confident professional. I credit a lot of that to DigitalGrads for providing me with a placement at just the right time.
“I feel positive about the future of my career!
“I’ve definitely been building a good foundation in programmatic. Combine that with the organic experience DigitalGrads gave me, and the fact my MA covered more traditional channels too, I certainly have open options for the long term.