What I Wish I Knew Before I ‘Kick-Started’ My Career
This year, Captify has been fortunate enough to be involved with the Government’s Kickstart Scheme, offering young people the opportunity to join different teams across the business for a 6-month placement.
One of Captify’s Kickstarters, Rebecca Mizen, shares an insight into her experience as the design kickstarter in the marketing team over the past two months.
It can be hard starting a new job at the best of times, let alone in the wake of a global pandemic. It can be even harder if you’re like me and you’ve never had an office job before. So after my first few months at Captify, I’ve learned a lot and I wanted to share some things I wish I had known before starting this experience:
- Ask lots of questions—in the beginning, there is so much new information to take in, so don’t hesitate to reach out and ask questions if it doesn’t make sense. There are also many useful onboarding sessions throughout the year where you get insight into how different teams work—don’t worry if you miss something, you can always join another session later in your internship for a refresher.
- Get involved—make the most of your time at Captify, go out with your teams and other teams and attend any work events. Not only are these fun, but you also get yourself out there so people know who you are. Slack is also a great way to connect with other Captifyers, especially when working from home—there are so many different channels where you can connect with like-minded people. Get involved with the Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce, you can help to educate others on important topics and make the work environment a happier and more inclusive place for everyone.
- Office etiquette—This is something that I didn’t even think about before I started, but once I began going into the office I realised I didn’t know what was appropriate. What do I say when someone comes over? Do I shake their hand? This is especially difficult to decide at the moment too due to the pandemic and not knowing what others are comfortable with. The best advice would be to watch others in the office and see how everyone else interacts with each other. Always greet people with a smile and introduce yourself and your role, they will probably tell you about themselves too. As far as handshaking goes, it’s easier just to ask—I’ve even had a few people ask to bump elbows as a hands-free form of a handshake.
- Be yourself—colleagues don’t want a manufactured response to something you think that they want to hear, they want to know about you. Your morals, passions, and things you care about are what make you unique—that’s a big part of the Captify culture.
I have loved my time at Captify so far, I am now a third of the way through my internship and have learned so much already. Being a part of the marketing team is great, everyone is so lovely and always offering help and advice. I have gained important skills such as Photoshop and InDesign. So far I have created posts for Captify’s social channels, internal flyers and even assisted with branding for a big event this summer. This experience has taught me so much about the ad tech industry and what a design role entails, something that college and university just couldn’t offer. I look forward to the rest of my time here and am sure I will have many more exciting projects to work on.
