Dan Wright, Marketing & Communications Assistant

How did your career journey begin at Xperience?

I saw the role advertised on social media and after reading the job description, I felt that with my degree it was the right role for me. It was also similar to the job I was working in at the time so I felt it would be a natural switch across with new opportunities to grow and develop.

What was your experience of the recruitment process?

I applied online after seeing the role advertised on LinkedIn. From here, I received a phone call from the People Team just as an introductory call and brief interview. I was then invited to an assessment centre via Teams which consisted of myself, the other candidates and the assessors.

The assessment centre started with a brief ice breaker activity where we introduced ourselves to each other and the assessors, it was designed to make us feel at ease. We were then split into two groups in break out rooms to work on a task set by the assessors. We then presented our work in front of the assessors and other candidates. The process was fun and challenging, and getting to chat to other candidates was fun. Following on from this, I was invited to attend a final stage interview with the hiring manager and a member of the people team to discuss the role in more detail. I then I received a phone call a few days later to confirm I was being offered the job!

What does a typical day as a Graduate Marketing and Communications Assistant look like?

I like the mix of hybrid working as it provides a fresh approach to work. It is nice to have options of either coming into the office or cracking on at home.

I am still very new to the role, having only been here 6 weeks, so at the minute a lot of what I do is content based as one of the main focuses for us is growing the brand. This really appeals to me as I like creative tasks and thinking about ways we can promote the business.

I have really enjoyed being given key responsibilities early on in my role such as approaching local networking organisations and creating content for marketing campaigns.  Content is something I really enjoy, especially blog writing.

Attending events such as university fairs is another aspect of my role I really enjoy getting involved in. I really enjoy the internal events such as charity bake offs and guide dog days for employee wellbeing! There are also a lot of meetings which is good because the majority of my team are based in Northern Ireland so it helps us to stay connected as one team.

What skills does a Graduate Marketing and Communications Assistant need?

I think people skills are a big part of the role. Excellent communication is key when organising meetings with potential clients or partners. For example, in my first month I was reaching out to local networking agencies and attended a university recruitment fair. This involved engaging  in conversation with students and trying to get them to register their interest for the next Graduate Academy Programme.

You also need to be creative especially when it comes to content, this can be either visually with design work or creative in terms of written content with blogs, writing about topics that are going to engage our market and make them want to read more.

What do you like most about working for Xperience?

For me, the hybrid working is probably the best bit but there are so many other things I could say. This really is a great company to work for, it is night and day compared to my previous job! Hybrid working just provides so much flexibility allowing us in the Marketing Team to crack on with tasks.

What are your expectations for the future with Xperience?

I would like to complete my graduate year and then  I aspire to move up to the position of Marketing Executive. There is so much potential for progression at Xperience due to our rapid growth over the past few years which really excites me.

What have you enjoyed most about the academy workshops so far and what have you learnt?

So far, I have done one Academy workshop as well as the initial Academy induction session. The induction was very worthwhile introducing us to the Academy Programme. We also learnt we all had graduate academy supporters who are employees at Xperience there to support us. We learnt a lot about how to manage workloads, stress and what resources Xperience provide us with as graduates with things such as Supporter Drop-ins. The supporter drop-ins are really useful as they provide a nice place to talk about things outside of your team.

In my first Academy workshop, the session was all about developing mental toughness. This included discussions with my peers on how different people handle stressful situations and we all discussed how best to manage stress. It was a nice mix of the graduates and our managers in the session, so you got viewpoints from different levels.

Why would you recommend Xperience as a great place to work?

In this job, you feel respected, encouraged and trusted. Working from home is a great perk and the special charity days are a nice touch too. The culture is great, we even have Playstations in my office!

What is most exciting about Xperience is the rate of growth it is experiencing. This job in the Marketing Team really provides me with a purpose of helping to grow the Xperience brand. Trust is a huge thing with work and Xperience really do give you the chance to show what you can do! If you are pondering whether to apply for a grad role here, don’t second guess it- just do it!