[Interview] Former Insynth Digital Content Marketer Graduates With First-Class Degree

This past week marked a special occasion for one of our ex-Insynth-ers. Freya Oxton-Grant, a previous Digital Marketing Consultant from July 2020-2021 celebrated her graduation from Lancaster University. She achieved a great result of a First-class degree in Advertising and Marketing, and we are very proud of her!

To mark this achievement, and a year’s anniversary since she left to finish her degree, we got in touch to see how she was getting on and discuss how her placement year at Insynth has helped her during university and in securing any future career opportunities.

Interviewing Freya

Ainhoa:

Hi Freya, how have you been? How was your graduation?

Freya:

Hello! I have been great, thank you. It only feels like yesterday when I was working in Shropshire at the lovely Insynth office. Since leaving last summer, I threw myself into my final year of university with my game face on to get a good degree result. I am very proud of myself for all I have achieved, and I can definitely thank my time at Insynth for improving my essay and exam results (you should see the jump from second to final year!).

My graduation was an amazing experience, and it was so fun to celebrate with my friends and family. 

Ainhoa:

That’s great to hear! So, would you say that what you learnt at Insynth was what helped you most?

Freya:

Definitely. The many hours of HubSpot training ingrained in me a whole new way of approaching marketing, and even if it wasn’t what was covered in my syllabus, it helped me with a new perspective when approaching projects and essays. At Lancaster, the coursework is very practical based, applying the theory to ‘real life’ situations, and having a year working for real businesses, and understanding their market, customer and business needs, all helped me with grounding my coursework in reality.

I think many of my peers would also agree that a placement is so impactful for their final year for this same reason. It gives you real business insight that you can take into your classes. For example, I did a module during my first term on Business-to-Business Marketing, and many of the non-placement students couldn’t get their heads around certain aspects of it.

They had only experienced business from a consumer standpoint, whereas working for an agency (and for clients that sell to other businesses), the module just seemed straightforward – “of course company buying habits vary wildly from consumer’s - an architect doesn’t just go into a corner shop and buy 50,000 bricks based on what he fancied that afternoon!”

Ainhoa:

Was there anything specifically you learned at Insynth that helped you in your classes?

Freya:

Well, the module topics for my degree were really quite different to the type of marketing covered in my role at Insynth, and were much more theory-based. However, regardless of specifics, I would say that my overall business understanding helped me massively in getting to grips with the case studies set in my assessments.

Moreover, the work ethic I developed at Insynth, a very fast-paced business where I had key responsibilities each day, helped me manage my time at university and complete my studies to the best I could. No more all-nighters!

When I went back to student life, following a 9-to-5, it was truly bliss haha! I’m not looking forward to the other way around though!

Ainhoa:

Haha! So, do you think what you learnt at Insynth will also help you when looking for jobs after university?

Freya:

Yes definitely.

Having the benefit of 12 months work experience, alongside my degree, puts me a step ahead of many graduates and this was the key reason for wanting to do a placement in the first place.

I will always be grateful to Leigh for this reason, as he was the person who took a chance on me, with no real work experience and not even a completed degree at the time, to give me the opportunity to work for a year. Now I can go to any graduate role interview with the skills and confidence learned from a year working in an incredible marketing agency such as Insynth.

Ainhoa:

And on the note of confidence, would you say Insynth helped you at a personal development level?

Freya:

For sure. Although I was confident enough to sell myself to Leigh at the beginning, I had never worked in a real job before, and I soon had to learn to walk the walk. But I think I embraced the challenge and through the support of the team, and the amazing clients we work for, I had the space to grow and excel in my role. I will always be proud of the work I produced during my first year in a marketing agency, and I know it's only onwards and upwards from here.

Another thing Insynth really equipped me with was to dig deep into my curiosity. If any topic or idea sparked something within me, we were encouraged to explore it and learn as much as we could about it. This is a special trait to possess, and I will be continuing in the Insynth fashion of always being curious for as long as I have a passion for marketing and business.

I would like to say here a big THANK YOU to the whole Insynth team. My year on placement truly shaped me as a person and I made friendships to last. The team and clients were so lovely, and it was a great place to work.

From The Team

It’s been great to interview Freya today and is always nice to hear how, even just a short time working with us in the team, has made such a big impact for her. You can learn more about Freya's year working at Insynth here.

Taking on graduates and nurturing their potential to shape them into future marketing professionals is a huge ambition of the Insynth leadership team. Through Freya, we can see how the training, culture and support of the business have all been essential in her year-in-industry journey.

If you’re interested in working at Insynth, be sure to check out our careers page for our latest openings!