My name’s Naomi and I’m currently studying Media and Communications at Birmingham City University. I recently spent two weeks on a work experience placement in Big Cat’s PR and Communications team.

It’s becoming more and more common for people to have degrees, so I’d say getting work experience is incredibly vital when you’re working towards a career. You need to make yourself stand out in the crowd of other people with 2:1 or higher degrees that are applying for the same graduate jobs you are, and work experience is a great way of doing this. Applying to a job with a CV that shows you have a good degree is great, but having a good degree AND already developed skills in actual job roles? That’s even better. It gives you a chance to develop not only your career specific skills but also your interpersonal and transferable ones. It’s also a chance for you to try out different sectors or specialisms and see if that’s still what you want to pursue after university.

Why would I recommend Big Cat Agency for a placement or internship? Simple; it’s a fun company. And I’m not just saying that because I was told this wouldn’t be posted if I didn’t write something positive… In all seriousness, the team at Big Cat are all very welcoming, friendly and comfortable to be around. In my time here we’ve had chair massages (!!!), doughnuts, Friday drinks and snacks AND as if that wasn’t enough, they have an adorable office sausage dog. Whenever I’ve told people about my experience at Big Cat they’ve been genuinely surprised by the initiatives that are in place for everyone who works there.

Although I’ve learned a lot during my time at university, being on a work placement means I can learn while doing, which is a much more enriching experience. This is because while I’m learning I’m actually also putting my skills into practice and creating pieces of work. At Big Cat I got to work on a variety of clients and produce lots of different types of work, creating content such as quizzes, social media plans and competition ideas, and that was only on the first day!

Work experience at Big Cat allows you to advance your research, strategy, copywriting and creative skills whilst working in a relaxed atmosphere. It’s definitely tiring going from afternoon uni seminars every few days to a 9 til 5 working week but if you’re considering an internship there’s nowhere I’d recommend more than Big Cat.