Interim Review

This month, I had my six-month interim review. It was a valuable experience as it allowed me to reflect on my progress and recognise everything I have accomplished so far, this academic year.

To prepare, I reviewed my goals and evaluated how much progress I had made against each one. The meeting went very well, and it was particularly interesting to compare my current work to where I was a year ago. Back then, my work often came back with multiple corrections, whereas this is no longer the case.

My confidence has grown considerably. When I start in my role, I found it difficult to speak in front of audiences and network with others. Since then, I have presented to large groups of students and significantly improved my networking skills by attending events.

My design skills have also improved greatly during my time at Skills and Education Group. I now create more people-focused graphics, as analytics show these perform better in terms of engagement. This also reflects the organisation’s values, highlighting that people are at the heart of what we do and reinforcing our identity as a charity focused on improving lives.

I’m also really proud that my social media designs now require fewer amendments, as I approach them more creatively. I focus on ensuring that the visuals and caption align with and reinforce our strategic direction.

The quality of my social media posts has also improved. Previously, most posts required several revisions, but now many are approved straight away. This demonstrates my growing understanding of expectations and improved attention to detail.

In fact, this is the case across most of my work. For example, when I first started working at Skills and Education Group, my blog posts often required multiple rounds of revisions before being uploaded to WordPress, and sometimes further changes were needed even after publication. Now, my blogs typically come back with only minor edits before being signed off, which shows clear improvement.

Video Editing

This month, I have been working on video editing and have been refining my skills. At Skills and Education Group, we recently filmed a case study interview with Nottingham College to showcase the impact of providing a learner grant through our foundation, which helped Nottingham College purchase new podcast-filming equipment.

We interviewed Danny Rawlings, (Foundation Learning Tutor) and a student called Tania to understand how this support has benefited them and the difference it has made to learners at the college.

I enjoyed the editing process, as I have now developed a clear structure and workflow that I follow. I use a combination of iMovie and Canva to edit videos, and I am proud of how much my skills in this area have improved. Working on the foundation campaigns is rewarding because I value seeing the real impact our organisation and my work have on learners and members.

Theory into Practice Course

This month, I attended my first two-day online course with Baltic. The course was delivered via Teams, where we stayed on the call throughout the day, similar to being in a classroom environment.

I found the experience very engaging and collaborative, and I particularly enjoyed hearing different perspectives from my peers.

The course focused on applying marketing theory to real workplace situations. Topics included:

• Pricing strategies

• Customer-facing roles

• Marketing mix analysis

• Brand value proposition and unique selling points

• Creating brand strategies

• Stakeholder analysis and communication

• Reputation management

• Customer relationship management (CRM)

• Cross-functional relationships

• Regulation and compliance

I previously studied some of these topics during my Level 3 apprenticeship, but this course allowed me to explore them in greater depth and better understand how they apply in practice. I also learned lots of new things. Overall, it was a very insightful experience, and I really enjoyed this style of learning.

So, to wrap up, this month has been a period of strong growth and reflection. I’ve reflected on how far I have come, assessed my progress against my goals, and identified how I can continue to improve.

Alongside this, the Theory into Practice course has deepened my understanding of marketing and strengthened my ability to apply knowledge in a real-world context.

I’ll see you in the next blog!