Nurturing and developing future talent is top of the agenda for Aberdeen marketing firm Prospect 13.
For the past two years owner Cerri McDonald has had Robert Gordon University students carry out their placement at the agency.
And due to their hard-work she has offered them both jobs at the end of their three-month stint.
Sarah Kelly and Annie Buchan, who both studied digital marketing, are now employees of the Bridge of Don based firm.
Cerri, who founded the business in 2018, said: “My intention was never that I’d be hiring them. That wasn’t part of the plan. It just naturally evolved.
“From a business perspective it’s a good chance to get a little bit of extra support during a busy period if you have specific projects in mind.
“But very quickly once Sarah was in I thought we could be doing with her all the time.”
Personal experience a driver
Cerri’s willingness to take part in the student placement programme stems from her own personal belief in helping encourage future development.
The company strapline is “Improving your future outlook”.
Cerri said: “From a personal perspective I never had the same help as the girls when I was at university. I had a degree very similar to them and my placement was three months in an agency and it was terrible.
“I didn’t get to be hands on like I encouraged Sarah and Annie to be. I wasn’t given any empowerment to do anything on my placement so it became boring. You felt like a spare part.
“When I was considering doing it I very much was thinking I’m going to have them as a member of the team with responsibilities and tasks to do.
“That was my driver from a personal experience.”
Award winning
Sarah, 23, completed her placement at Prospect 13 last year and worked part-time while completing her honours. She is now full-time in her role as digital marketing specialist.
Last month Sarah and the Prospect 13 team picked up the Northern Star business award for student placement.
She said: “You can’t value enough taking the pressure off of trying to get a graduation job and experience.
“I already have 18 months experience in an agency. You can’t put a price on that.
“I was expecting to be in for three months. Learn as much as I can and then away again.
“It’s been a really great experience for me.”
Former Fraserburgh Academy student Annie is currently working part-time at the agency until she completes the final year of her honours.
The digital marketing enthusiast said: “It’s been amazing. I didn’t know what to expect coming in to it.
“I imagined it would just be three months but I’ve grew to learn so much and love the course even more.
“I feel so much better going back in to my fourth year with everything I’ve learned. It doesn’t stress me out anymore.”
Prospect 13 supports an evolving range of businesses across the oil and gas, education, technology, IT, professional services, automotive, financial and commercial property sectors.
