For the past two weeks (off and on in-between my lectures), I have been learning all there is to know about Wave. As part of a placement module – Literature, Language and Media – that counts towards my degree (English Literature and Film & Theatre) at the University of Reading, I was given the chance to carry out an independent research project at a media-based company. Choosing to take this module was a “no-brainer” for me since I thoroughly enjoyed and academically excelled in A-level Media Studies. I also have a keen interest in all things marketing and communications, so I knew this module would be a great way for me to tie in the two topics I am most enthusiastic about.
Why I Chose To Do My Placement at Wave
Although I live in London (my non-university term time address), I knew I wanted to choose a placement provider in Reading because I desired to carry out the placement while at university. I searched the internet for marketing companies, and Wave was the first one to appear on my Google search list. As internet users typically do, I clicked on the first suggestion, and what attracted me most about Wave was that they said their primary role is marketing (digitally) in the recruitment industry. Being that my part-time job as a Sanctuary Graduates Campus Captain involves the marketing and advertising of student placements, internships and graduate schemes at my university, doing my placement at Wave would be an opportunity for me to develop my skills and knowledge, plus learn anything new. Thus, I got in contact with Wave and soon after received the all clear to begin on the first week of January.
There Was No Tea and/or Coffee Making!
My list of “things I have learnt at Wave” is endless. From being taught and shown the importance of and hard work that goes into marketing via social media to get to know the biggest trends and buzzwords in today’s recruitment industry. I could probably write a whole blog post about this on its own! Nevertheless, the most memorable tasks and learning outcomes are as follows:
Writing a blog post about my opinions on AI being used in the recruitment industry.
This task included in-depth internet research on the “smart technology” and SEO (search engine optimization). From this, I learnt how to integrate the most searched for and popular keywords that related to the topic of my post in order to drive traffic. On top of this, I also learnt how to source non-copyright images. The image used for my AI post is an adapted version of a non-copyright, fit for commercial use image from Flickr.
Creating social media copy for my blog post and using Social Baker to schedule when each post would be advertised on Wave’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.
It is from this that I was able to fully grasp the amount of time and effort that goes into social media marketing, especially when you are the one having to come up with engaging content – I am told what to write on social media when advertising roles for my part-time job.
Aiding in the creation of Wave’s Valentines themed quiz.
To celebrate the universal holiday: Valentines Day, Wave decided to create a romance-themed quiz for their free online jobs board, JobsTrackR. I was given the chance to aid in the writing up of the content, in which I created copy for the introductory paragraph. In addition to this, I also was able to once again aid on the social media front, where I created the hashtag “LoveYourJob”.
Co-writing a thought leadership piece for Recruitment Matters Magazine.
After recently partnering with the REC (Recruitment & Employment Confederation), Wave was offered a 250-word feature in their monthly magazine. I was able to use all that I had learnt about AI and data-driven recruitment to help Wave formulate their standpoint on these newly adopted recruitment technologies.
All In All
These examples are just a snippet of how I spent my time at Wave. In all honesty, I wish I could stay and learn from the team even more. The skills I have developed upon and acquired will be highly valuable in my future, as I plan to go off into the marketing sphere after I graduate next year (fingers crossed).
