Throughout my entire university experience, there was a looming sense of uncertainty. I was in a completely new environment post-high school, dealing with an unfamiliar pandemic and learning to adapt to a digital world… There were so many unknowns and yet all anyone wanted to ask me was “what are you going to do after you graduate?”. I was never sure about my answer until I discovered the Assembled Academy, a three-month graduate program that would do exactly what I needed – ease me into the “real” world of media and communications.
From the get-go, I felt welcomed by the Assembled Group as someone that was there to learn, not just another intern from one of those horror stories you hear at university. The flexibility and customisation of the Academy made sure the program was tailored to what I would be interested in and enjoy.
I first worked with boutique PR agency, narrative. As a PR major at university, narrative was a great environment for me to put my learning into practice and amplify my knowledge of the discipline. It allowed me to refine my skills in writing and understanding strategy and execution – the ‘why’ behind an idea. I was also lucky enough to sit in on some media training sessions with narrative’s sister agency, Newsflash Media, and saw first-hand the value of good media training and its ability to shape an organisation’s message.
My other two placements were with media planning and buying agency, Assembled Media, and web design and development agency, Kodaa. Despite having virtually zero experience in both disciplines, I was able to learn so much about each industry by being allowed, and encouraged, to actively get involved and do meaningful work.
At Assembled Media, I discovered an entirely new area of media and communications that focused on analysing audience data to better serve media and create successful campaigns. I had an equally positive experience at Kodaa where I developed new skills in web design and development that has deepened my appreciation of the processes behind a web build. Both agencies helped me to better understand the audience and the user, what they’re looking for and how to present the information in a compelling way.
My three months at the Academy have been a whirlwind of new experiences where I was offered remarkable learning opportunities and mentorship from everyone within the Assembled Group, not just the agencies I was placed with.
Each of my placements were vastly different and sometimes nerve-wracking, but they presented the kind of challenges I was looking for to expand my skillset. The support I received from everyone I worked with also made for an incredibly special and welcoming environment.
My placement in the Assembled Academy was better than I could have hoped for. I hope all future graduates get to have the same enriching introduction to the media and communications industry that I was lucky enough to experience.
