I arrived at 3ti knowing I had an interest in marketing and that 3ti was a solar car park company. After this past week, I have learnt so much, not only about my hopes for the future, but also my interest in sustainability has been sparked. Being around so many people who are so passionate about their job and purpose has spurred me on to be more proactive with my career.
A couple of months ago, when I was looking for work experience placements, I was really struggling to find a business that was open to giving students the opportunity to work with them for a week.
This is a real shame as the skills I have learnt over these past few days have and will continue to benefit me and my future career. I think that one of the main reasons why the choice is so limited is covid, further confirmed when I spoke to Hayley Hamilton (Head of HR) “Employers are finding it hard to get back into the swing of work since covid and now that hybrid working is becoming more popular, it is difficult to match that schedule of work with successful work experience placements”.
This is amongst many other reasons why I am so grateful for 3ti being so accommodating and going above and beyond to show Franek and I what the real world of work is like.
Franek was also on work experience at 3ti, he was unsure about what sector to focus on so had a taster across departments to get a general overview of all aspects of the business. After speaking to him, he expressed how positive his experience has been and that even though he still isn’t certain about what he would like his future career to look like, it has given him “a general insight into what working life is like”. It has been a useful and transferable piece of knowledge which will hopefully aid him with future choices. Franek also emphasised how kind and friendly the staff were to him, and he was made to feel very welcome at 3ti. Overall, Franek told me that he had an “all round positive experience” which for me, sums up the whole week perfectly.
3ti’s ethos is “to leave something better behind” and I really feel that they have shown their commitment to me and Franek, as demonstrated by their attitude towards helping local schools and therefore the community.
Prior to coming to 3ti, my expectations of work experience were that I would be making coffee and photocopying things. However, 3ti – Clare in particular, has completely altered this view and I now see why universities and colleges emphasise how important this experience is.
As I knew I enjoyed marketing, I worked all week with Clare Slaven (Head of Marketing at 3ti) on a multitude of small projects which covered all possible elements of marketing. One point I am particularly interested in is the impact social media has on marketing, so one of the tasks I completed was analysing 3ti’s different social media platforms; mainly Instagram. The reason for this is that Instagram, out of all 3ti’s pages is the least active and has the least followers, so I put together an analysis of the current situation of the page, along with some recommendations to improve it.
I enjoyed this task as I feel as though it has taught me to view things with more attention to detail as it really is the little things in marketing that make the biggest difference. For example, another task I completed was researching and updating the most popular hashtags on LinkedIn, which just goes to show how much time and thought goes into each post. Clare has taught me a range of skills which are applicable to multiple situations or jobs which is very beneficial, one of these skills being how to effectively use and assess google analytics, as when you understand how to navigate it properly, it is a helpful tool that gives a broad insight into customer activity on the website.
I feel as though 3ti did not just do the bare minimum but went out of their way to give Franek and I the best experience possible. After this week, I can say with confidence that I am even more interested in marketing, and I would like to pursue my career in that area. The skills which we have picked up this week are not only useful for future work, but also just general life skills which I believe we would not have acquired had we gone elsewhere. We are both extremely grateful for this opportunity to of arisen and we wish all the best for 3ti in the future.
Written by Lola (Year 12)