- February 5th, 2016|
- by Chikka Moyo|
- Uncategorized
- |Chikka Moyo,Gradconsult,Graduate,Graduate recruitment,sheffield,SME
That’s right folks, 127 days later and I’m still rocking my star spangled GC boots (well, not literally but I do have a serious spring in my step!). If you hadn’t guessed by now, it’s Chikka here, dusting off the keyboard.
The debut days of September seem to be nothing short of a distant memory. So much has happened since the start of my career with Gradconsult. I hadn’t realised just how much I had accomplished over the last 4 months until I took a second to breathe. I honestly wasn’t hyping it up in my last blog when I said that I hit the ground running.
On my fourth day, I headed to Leeds with both of my directors, Charlie and Rebecca, for a meeting with the awesome team at Chatter, to discuss our long awaited re-brand. Little did I know at the time that project re-brand was soon to become my baby, and I would be taking the lead. I know what you’re thinking – what on earth?!
If there had been a pre-project interview I imagine it would have gone a little like this
Interviewer: Do you have any Branding Experience Me: No Interviewer: Any experience in Market Research? Me: urm…no Interviewer: Business Development experience? Me: [cue tumbleweed] …No but I’ll give it a go. Interview: [Enthusiastic smile] You’re hired!
Now I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel slightly in over my head, but I didn’t view my inexperience as a predisposition to failure, and funnily enough neither did my bosses. It was an opportunity to learn a thing or two (or in my case, a plethora of skills) and I soon adopted a new philosophy, ‘When life gives you hurdles, jump’. You’re probably sat wondering about the result of this endeavour. I won’t keep you in suspense or much longer [drumroll please] …I’ve been working on our
- New website
- New Logo
- New branding
Don’t believe me? See for yourselves! Click here
So, what are the 2 greatest lessons I learned from this project?
1.It is ok to ask for help!
It sounds silly, but I am pretty certain I am not the only person who has been in this position. You’re working on a project, trying painstakingly hard to get it just right when all of a sudden you become ‘work blind’. Sat with your ideas, a ball of frustration builds because you cannot decide on the right steps to take you to the finish line. The solution could not be easier yet many of us fail to do it – scrap the stress and ask for help! The simple act of sharing your ideas is highly underrated, and may even develop what you had originally lost sight of.
A smart cookie (…ah hem Rebecca) told me about the 80-20 theory which has helped me leaps and bounds. When carrying out a task, the first 20% of the time is spent completing 80% of the work. And it takes the remaining 80% of the time to complete the final 20%. Why am I saying this? The next time you find yourself stuck bounce your ideas off someone and you’ll push through the final 20% in no time at all!
2.Say yes and give it a go!
I’ll put my hands up now and admit that I had no real experience prior to starting, BUT that didn’t matter because I was committed to giving it a go, and my team trusted me to run with it. I have lost count how many times I was left semi-baffled at conversations that went like this;
Rebecca/Charlie: Chikka? Me: Yes Rebecca/Charlie: You know to […] right? Me: …No, but I’m sure I can work it out. How hard can it be? Rebecca/Charlie: Awesome! (…I quote, that was the exact response I got)
In all of my employment experience, never have I experienced the level of trust that I have had whilst working at Gradconsult. I honestly believe that support of my ridiculously enthusiastic team, even when I didn’t have the faintest idea, fueled my drive to get stuck in. Video editing, CMS and html coding are just a handful of what I picked up – all because I said yes!
I hope you had a fantastic time seeing in the new year! We gave the classic saying and twist to fit our celebrations – “New year new…BRAND”
Over and out!