What does your background involve?
I readily admit that before I applied to Merkle, my knowledge of PPC, and digital marketing in general, was somewhat lacking. In fact, it was non-existent – I had come from a background involving a Zoology degree and five years’ primary teaching. After taking the plunge and deciding to change careers in my mid – all right, my late – twenties, I started thinking about other careers. My research took me down a few different avenues, including publishing, buying and food development. I did the logic tests, went to the assessment days but I still felt like something wasn’t quite clicking – pun intended.
That all changed when I came across an advert for Merkle. My first port of call was the company website, which was unlike any of the other company websites I had visited – its rainbow colours, wiggly eyeball logos and A-Z of staff members all wearing geeky glasses piqued my interest. Who was this company? What were their values? Were their employees’ glasses real or ironic? And perhaps most importantly, what the heck was PPC?
For all the fun components, I found the website to be highly informative. I got a sense of the company’s values, culture and areas of expertise. There were also a wealth of blogs detailing the newest features and tests. I remember recoiling in horror when I saw a blog about Google Tag Manager – there was no way I could ever do that! But still, I persevered, went away and did as much research as I possibly could on PPC. I started to think that this type of role – analytical, fast-moving and client-focused – would suit me. Not only that, but they had a three-month training programme to get new joiners up to speed!
What has your experience been like after joining the team?
After joining, I was relieved to discover that the Merkle experience was exactly how I’d hoped it would be – supportive, fun and challenging. I got my first clients after about four weeks which allowed me to put the things I’d been learning through the training into practice. After my time in the Academy, I moved into a brilliant team where I had a fantastic mentor and continued to learn. That’s the thing about this job – it’s impossible to get bored because there are always new things to learn, irrespective of whether you have been here a month or ten years.
Recently, I moved from my team back to the Academy, this time in a support function, which is an amazing opportunity. In this role, I’m able to meet all the new joiners, help them with any questions or issues, organise drop-in sessions, assist them with on-boarding new clients and plenty more as well as doing my own client work. I’m so grateful to Merkle for giving me this opportunity to mix and match my interests. It really is a brilliant place to work!