We had the absolute joy of supporting and guiding two brilliant third-year work experience students from the University of Chichester, giving them first-hand experience of working in a global agency and insights to complete their dissertations.
Between them they have achieved all sorts of ambitious tasks including analysing the complete customer journey, creating SEO website posts, social media reels, and more.
And they didn’t just learn from us, they taught us a lot too.
Before they left, we asked them to share their experience and learnings;
James Mepham: Building Confidence Through Real Responsibility
After 20 exciting, informative, and delightful weeks, my placement at August Recognition is coming to its end. I have had the best possible time learning from the best in the industry, improving not only how I see the awards industry and all of the work that has to be put into it to make everything work in the end, but improving how I see the business world as a whole.
I have had the joy of working behind the scenes on all the data functions to get complex systems working, witnessing and partaking in client meetings to get the full experience of an awards journey, analysing and providing feedback on an entire customer journey and managing partner pages on August's website using WordPress.
This experience has helped me feel more confident in how I approach work, allowing myself to be confident in my industry knowledge and apply it with more precision, more relaxed in unfamiliar work environments and tasks, as well as enabling me to learn about new industries and new areas of these industries to take forward into my future career. Additionally, the experience itself has broadened my horizons on what I would like to do in my future career giving me invaluable insight into industries that I didn't know existed let alone had an interest in.
But I cannot talk about my experience without thanking the team at August for all of their help at not only showing me the ins and outs of the awards world as an equal rather than an intern, allowing me to experience the working world while feeling like a valued member of the team.
So, a massive thank you to Donna, Shannon, Brooke, Ben, Lisa, and Ella for making me feel so welcome, making the whole placement a lot of fun and giving me the opportunity to take such valuable experience forward with me.
And a special thank you to my placement coworker, Luke Payne, for being the absolute best university placement co-worker I could ask for.
Luke Payne: Growing Through Experience and Opportunity
Over the last 5 months I have had the privilege of completing my placement with August Recognition. I cannot express how grateful I am for the opportunity and time I have spent here at August.
From the moment I arrived everyone has been so friendly and supportive. Being able to complete my placement in such a positive and family type atmosphere is something that I will never forget.
During my time here I have had the opportunity to get involved in a variety of projects and tasks that have allowed me to develop my own skills and gain valuable experience. I feel that I have learnt so much from just being around the team and getting to see firsthand how they work on a daily basis. Not only this, but to be able to work side by side on these projects has enabled me to grow and improve even more. This included a range of both analytical and more creative projects navigating through the customer journey from both an internal and external perspective. I cannot wait to apply everything that I have learnt during my time at August Recognition going forward into the next chapter of my life. It is an experience that I will look back on with great appreciation.
Thank you very much to all of the team at August, it has been an absolute pleasure.
Supporting the Next Generation
Luke and James have been a fantastic addition to the team over the past 4 months.
They came with energy, enthusiasm and eagerness to try everything an agency can offer and be of real value.
Having them onboard has also shown the value and importance of supporting the next generation. We’re proud to be supporting both the University of Chichester and Sussex University with insightful talks, panel discussions, and offering work experience placements.
