National Intern Day – Our placement student reflects on his first month in the role

With it being National Intern Day in the US, we thought we’d hand over blog writing duties to our currently placement student, Johnny Collins, who joined us in June for 12 months as part of his Psychology degree that he is studying for at Nottingham Trent University . . .

By Johnny Collins

Looking back, my placement search before joining Audere was a bumpy road consisting of a many ups and downs, but I am forever grateful for my experience as it has led me to where I am today.

I set off my placement search at the start of my second academic year at Nottingham Trent University with an optimistic and tenacious mindset. As a Psychology student looking to get into the marketing/creative strategy industry I was already at a slight disadvantage to those taking the corresponding degrees, nevertheless, I was confident in my abilities to overcome each challenge the ruthless application processes had in store for me. Months went by composed of endless applications, the tailoring of CVs and cover letters, first and final stage interviews but still…nothing.

It was in April when I set my eyes upon Audere’s job opportunity, a multi-faceted social media role for an end-to-end podcast production and content strategy agency, it was most definitely a perfect opportunity I couldn’t ignore. So, I got to applying for the role… and the rest history.

Reflecting on my first month at Audere, I must say it has been nothing but exciting. My first experience before I had even started my placement, as I was invited to get some early experience by meeting with Debbie West, a Senior Account Director here, to record episodes for Freshfield’s ‘Rewarding Half Hour’ podcast series in London. I had the chance to help with some of the pre-production audio processes and take behind the scenes pictures and videos. Overall, it was a great opportunity to build an understanding of how the podcast production process is coordinated, before officially starting my role.

A few weeks later some of the team got together in Kings Cross as part of their quarterly social meet up, and so took the opportunity to again, invite me to join them before my official start date to welcome me as the new annual placement student and to say goodbye to Dasnoor Anand, the previous social media intern.

We had a team meeting to discuss current business objectives and plans for the future, after which, we set off to a Mexican restaurant to close the day with some dinner and drinks. It was great to meet everyone on the team in person and get to know them better, altogether it was a splendid introduction!

Team strategy meeting before our quarterly social in May

Decent food at El Pastor in Coal Drops Yard

Not long after, I had my first day on the job which was a hands-on experience with Russell Goldsmith, Audere’s Founder & CEO, where we attended Octopus Energy’s Energy Tech Summit event that took place in Battersea Park, London.

Russell was producing Octopus Energy’s own branded podcast ‘Inside Octopus’ at the event, interviewing speakers and attendees that included former F1 World Champion, Damon Hill.   Whilst at the event, I had the opportunity to listen to some of the talks from speakers such as Brian Cox and Stephen Fry. On the whole, a thrilling first day providing me with a good insight into the feel for event podcasting.

L-R – Me with Russ and Pat at Octopus Energy’s event

At the end of the week, there was another opportunity for me to help Debbie again with an on-site recording, however, this time it was for the London Stock Exchange Group and was a video podcast, which helped me gain a better understanding of the intricacies and differences between audio and video podcasting.

Setting up the LSEG podcast shoot with Debbie

I think it’s safe to say it was a packed first week!

Since then, the remote working structure has been great, from the team meetings and calls throughout the day, the immense amount support and help available from all team members to the various projects I get to work on, there is never a dull day!

So far, it has been a pleasure working alongside Ruby Punt, Content Executive who is always a massive help with anything and everything, and the rest of the team during my first month. I cannot wait for what the year ahead brings!

It’s not long before next year’s placement opportunities start to arise, if you’re in university and thinking about doing a work placement year as part of your course – here are my three top tips you should take with you throughout your placement search:

• Resilience is key (setbacks are inevitable)
• Be confident (there are going to many other students applying for the same jobs as you, it’s easy to feel disheartened)
• Stay true to yourself (being honest throughout your application processes will help lead to a role which is perfectly suited for you)