At a time where I felt all hope was lost after being made redundant at the height of the pandemic, I stumbled across an advertisement for a Marketing Assistant at Hoop Recruitment. Having had previously been placed by Hoop in my first graduate role, a company I had always admired for its ethos and progressive culture, I jumped at the chance.

   The role was part of the government funded Kickstart Scheme, designed to help young people aged 18-24 to find employment. As an agency, Hoop are dedicated to creating as many jobs as possible for young people, and took on a total of six Kickstarters - three of which were offered permanent contracts. This dedication to youth employment and support of the Kickstart scheme has not gone unnoticed as we have recently been nominated for a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) SME Recognition Award!

   Following a successful interview, my six-month placement at Hoop began in April 2021. In my first week I was given an induction plan to follow, to ensure I had all the necessary resources and knowledge to thrive in my new role. As there wasn’t a dedicated marketing team in the business at the time, I was given full autonomy to shape the role as I saw fit for the needs and demands of the agency.

   In September 2021, at the end of my Kickstart placement I was lucky enough to be offered a permanent contract as a Marketing Assistant at Hoop. Once appointed, I was given full support by my manager in creating a bespoke progression plan and personal development plan to ensure I was able to achieve my career goals, expand my skillset and explore other areas of marketing I hadn’t had the opportunity to explore yet.

   One of the key things I highlighted in my PDP is that I wanted to improve my communication and management skills. My manger wasted no time in making this happen, partnering with the University of South Wales to give a student an internship opportunity to join me on the Marketing team.

   What I found great about the internship was that I was able to mentor my intern, sharing my marketing knowledge and skillset, whilst also strengthening my own communication and management skills at the same time. I was able to explore what management styles worked best for me, and how I could tailor these to my team’s preferences. Seeing Sumaya’s progression, both as a young professional and as a marketer was inspiring and as cheesy as it sounds, it reminded me why I love doing what I do!

   In April 2022, having explored the different areas of marketing and identifying a specific interest in the strategic and analytical side, my manager and I sat down to discuss how Hoop could best support me in expanding my skillset in these areas, and how my role would look going forward in-line with my progression plan.

   Following these discussions, I was given a promotion to Marketing Executive. In order for me to excel in this new role, I worked closely with the Directors to identify what areas of Marketing I would need external training and support with. I had identified two key areas for improvement – SEO and Campaign Management.

   Within days, I had been enrolled onto a Hubspot SEO course, as well as receiving a fully paid Associate level membership with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and will be soon starting my CIM diploma in Planning and Optimising Marketing Campaigns.

   What sets Hoop aside from other companies is that they genuinely do care about your progression, and the trust they have with their employees is unfathomable. Unlike many other companies, they invest in their employees. They see the potential in people and put all the tools in place for them to achieve their career goals.

Interested in joining the team? Browse our internal vacancies here or you can contact our Head of Talent Lucy Woolway directly on 02922 400 519 or email lucy.woolway@hooprecruitment.co.uk.