Katie Houser

Signing up for the Skills Bootcamp in Digital delivered by Mediaworks, a digital marketing agency based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Katie was keen to broaden her technical skills and understand more about marketing.

Like many others, Katie was at a crossroads about her career pathway, unsure whether to pursue arts, teaching, or business.

The TechTalent Ready bootcamp was a perfect opportunity to network with others, gain industry knowledge, and find out more about the careers available to her.

What support did the bootcamp give you?

“The Digital Marketing Bootcamp with Tech Talent Ready supported me in learning new skills through the range of speakers and experts. Help was on hand every day, especially since I had so many questions to ask.

“They were very supportive to us emotionally and gave us confidence in our new skills and we would be able to use our skills to help us find a job.”

What did you learn during the bootcamp?

“I learned the basics of marketing and had the opportunity to apply the skills I learned after every lesson. One of the first lessons I learned was to ask yourself, what does your product solve?

“This allowed me to understand my target audience and how to market to them. For example, a commercial printing company that specialises in printing management and fulfilment will solve the problem of businesses with a large demand for printing services but have limited storage for their products.

“Our target audience would be large companies that would like to solve all their printing needs in one place and sign a contract that would ensure the timely printing and delivery of their paper. Besides learning the basic principles of marketing, I also learned how to apply them to digital marketing and the online sphere.

“This includes concepts such as brand visibility, increasing your website searchability using copy and SEO, and using data analytics to guide your decision-making areall elements of digital marketing that I was unaware of. I learned how to think critically about using these tools according to what our goals are.”

You received a job – how was this experience?

“The assignment was the most important part of the bootcamp experience. I chose a difficult case to do my pitch on and was able to take the case from start to finish. I got great feedback about my ideas and some great pointers to strengthen my case."

What is your current job and what company are you working for?

“I recently started a job at Harlow Printing Limited as a marketer. I administer all marketing projects for the company as well as contribute to branding and design. I wouldn’t have had this opportunity if I had not done the Tech TalentReady programme.”

Would you recommend Tech Talent Ready to others?

“Yes, I would. I think it’s suitable for trying something new and pushing you out of your comfort zone. The programme at Mediaworks was a very intense two weeks filled with lots of information in every session. If you can, I would recommend it.”

Looking for your next role in tech?

If Katie’s story has inspired you to work in tech, check out our range of career-focused programmes designed to help shorten the gap between job seekers and recruiters.

Whether you’re new to the sector or not, we’re passionate about helping the North East develop a healthy pipeline of talent.