Now that my year in industry is coming to an end, it’s the perfect time to reveal all on my placement with Jigsaw Business Group.
I have been with Jigsaw for almost a year now after opting to do a 4-year sandwich degree in Marketing Management at Northumbria University.
My role consists of executing the marketing and communications activities for all Jigsaw divisions (supply chain, people, business improvement & training), with a particular focus on expanding social media reach, running PR campaigns and improving the website. Each day varies a great deal however you can often catch me writing a blog post for the website, planning our next social media post or creating reports for the directors.
I quickly learnt that everyone at Jigsaw really knows their stuff about all things engineering, manufacturing and supply chain, so I had to learn relatively fast about the industry and what makes Jigsaw so successful as a company.
The experience of being able to put all the skills I’ve learnt at university and apply them into real life scenarios has been invaluable. Not only have I learnt a whole wealth of technical marketing skills, including SEO, and how to use MailChimp and Google Analytics, I have also developed some fundamental interpersonal skills.
I wanted a placement where I would have a lot of responsibility and be leading my own projects, which is exactly what my year with Jigsaw has involved. I’ve managed various projects such as improving the company website and social media, as well as creating a new corporate presentation and video. I also lead my own weekly marketing meetings which has been really beneficial for my personal and professional development as well.
It has been great watching the company’s marketing grow, especially the social media channels and LinkedIn in particular which has seen a nearly 70% increase in following since I began my placement.
I haven’t always been stuck in the office though. With Jigsaw, I’ve had the opportunity to go to various networking events to further develop my personal skills, as well as bring back some valuable knowledge in relation to the company’s marketing. One of the biggest highlights for me whilst working at Jigsaw was going down to London for two days for Marketing Week Live where I had the chance to learn about current marketing trends and also speak with other marketers there.
Other memorable moments include the Jigsaw Christmas Party, which was a lot of fun…
…and also being nominated for two North East Business Awards!
The most notable project I have been involved with is the Jigsaw video, which started off as just an idea and is now in the final stages of production. I have been involved with it from start to finish, from the initial idea stage to the final storyboarding, so it has been a major highlight seeing my idea come to life.
Although I will be continuing with Jigsaw part-time throughout my final year at university, Jack will be joining us on a 12-month placement starting next week. He is also studying Marketing at Northumbria University. His role is going to consist of some video marketing and social media strategy and I’m sure he will do a brilliant job.
Overall, my placement year with Jigsaw has been extremely beneficial, I’ve met some amazing colleagues and learnt loads of skills that I will be able to take with me to my final year at university.
Darren Comben, Head of Operations for Jigsaw Business Group has said
Tamar is exactly the reason why Jigsaw Business Group have reinvested in a 12-month student placement for the second year running. She has proven to be a great asset for our business managing multiple marketing projects and delivering excellent results for us. Tamar will continue working for Jigsaw Business Group during the next 12 months on a part-time basis to fit around her studies, and I’m confident she has a successful career in front of her.
