As part of my Business Management with Marketing degree at Nottingham Trent University, I was required to spend a year in industry before returning for my final year.
I first heard about Ignition through a family friend who worked here and always spoke highly of the company. I was also interested in Ignition’s range of work across motorsport, football and live events.
I wanted to use my placement to gain a better understanding of what working in an agency was actually like, as well as develop life skills that I could take back with me to university.
From university to agency life
Moving from university into a full-time working environment was an adjustment.
Suddenly, deadlines were no longer about submitting an assignment for a grade. Other people were relying on me to deliver my part of a project so they could deliver theirs.
During my placement, I worked with clients from a range of sectors, as well as with different teams across the business. I also used project management tools such as ClickUp to keep track of what I was working on.
I was given genuine responsibility from early on, but there was always support around me. There was always plenty of support and opportunity to learn and develop, from the onboarding process and buddy system to regular 1:1s, Insights Discovery, health and wellbeing workshops and wider training sessions, really helped me adjust.
The social side helped too. Social events such as the Christmas party and team-building days gave me the chance to get to know people I wouldn’t normally work with, and everyone really made me feel like part of the team.
Getting involved
One of the biggest opportunities of my placement was travelling to Munich for my first overseas event with Ignition. With guests arriving across two waves, the programme included driving experiences, conferences, dinners and a factory tour.
It was also my first time travelling abroad for work, giving me a completely different perspective on how much planning, communication and teamwork goes into delivering an event on site.
Another project I really enjoyed being involved in was Ignition’s Brain Tumour Research charity initiative. I helped the Ignition charity team develop a plan and set targets for the year, presented to the Senior Leadership Team, and got involved in organising fundraising activities and encouraging people across the business to get involved.
It was a great opportunity for me to learn from people across the company, while also taking ownership of some parts of the project myself.
I also enjoyed being involved in a range of different projects where I was able to physically see something move from an initial idea through to a finished product.
For example, sourcing gifting and event collateral meant communicating with teams and suppliers about everything from dimensions and production specifications to lead times, while making sure the result matched what the team needed and remained on brand. It also gave me a deeper understanding of how much work goes into these elements.
What i've learned along the way
The biggest takeaways from my placement were the skills and experiences that I couldn’t have gained in the same way at university.
The biggest change I feel I made was in my organisational and time-management skills, which improved hugely throughout the year. Simply adjusting from the flexibility of university to being somewhere on time every day and managing a full working week was a learning experience.
At university, no one is necessarily checking how you manage your time, whereas at work, other people are relying on you. Alongside managing multiple deadlines, this made me much more organised and disciplined with my time.
My confidence and communication skills changed just as much. At the beginning of the year, I wasn’t always comfortable contributing ideas in group discussions. As the year progressed, I became much more confident taking briefs, providing feedback, communicating with different people and helping to keep projects moving.
One moment that really put the year into perspective was my involvement in a careers fair on behalf of Ignition at the Silverstone Wing. I helped represent the brand and spoke to A-Level students about the company, my experience and the different opportunities available.
It felt like a bit of a full-circle moment, as it wasn’t that long ago that I was in their position, thinking about university. Now, I was representing Ignition and sharing my own experience of university and the workplace.
It was a nice way to reflect on how much had happened over the course of the year.
The people
The people have been one of the biggest parts of my experience at Ignition.
One of the things I noticed throughout the year was how willing people were to share their experience and help me learn. Whether I was working with someone for the first time or asking a question about something I hadn’t done before, I always felt comfortable reaching out. That made a big difference, particularly when I was still getting used to agency life.
I also enjoyed getting to know people outside of my immediate team. From working together on the charity initiative to team development days and social events, there were plenty of opportunities to meet people across the business and understand more about what they do.
Looking back, it’s the people I’ve worked with and the relationships I’ve built that I’ll take away from the placement just as much as the experience itself.
Looking back - and what's next
Looking back, I think I’ve matured a lot over the year. My timekeeping, organisation, communication and confidence have all developed, but I’ve also gained a much clearer understanding of what working in a fast-paced agency environment is like.
Having successfully completed my placement module (and passed!), I’ve now returned to Nottingham Trent University, ready and excited to take on my final year and finish my degree.
For anyone about to start a placement, my biggest piece of advice would be to get involved in everything, even when something feels outside of your comfort zone. Some of the best experiences I had, and the ones I learned the most from, were the ones I was most unsure or nervous about at the beginning of the year.
A year later, I’ve left Ignition with much more experience, greater confidence and a far better understanding of what life could look like after university.