Having Someone In Your Corner

6 April 2018

Phase 4 of Meet a Mentor is currently underway. Mentee, Charnelle Williams, tells us how she's finding the experience so far.

After spending three years stressing out over deadlines while studying for a degree in Criminology, I decided to pursue a career in the creative industries. I soon came to the conclusion that this was, in reality, a very difficult thing to do and so I sought help from Create Jobs and attended an intensive course in Advertising.

Following a four-month long internship that took place shortly after the course had ended, I was left feeling a little lost about what my next steps should be, which led me back to the team at Create Jobs and from there to Meet a Mentor.

The process that would determine my match consisted of scribbling down my personal and professional aims and passing them on to Fran (the brilliant Founder and all-round boss), who used this to make sure I would be paired with the best mentor. This was useful as it gave me something to work towards, it wasn't something that I had taken the time to think about it beforehand. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long before being matched with my mentor Daryl Fielding (CEO of The Marketing Foundation) with our meeting taking place at the first Meet a Mentor session in February. Since then, I've received plenty gems from her in the form of job application advice and motivational tips that have pushed me to keep trying even when I've felt like giving up.

Getting your foot in the door when it comes to advertising is a difficult feat. It's typically an industry where connections and networks are incredibly important and so it's especially intimidating for anyone who doesn't have that, which is where my wonderful mentor Daryl comes in.

Daryl has had a long and successful career in brand strategy and marketing. She's amazing at what she does and is a huge inspiration to me. I feel incredibly lucky to have her in my corner, using her knowledge, experience and vast network to guide me towards my next opportunity!

For the moment, I'm aiming to increase my confidence in myself and my abilities, and to land another role that will prepare me for a more permanent position working in strategy at an agency.

Thanks to Meet a Mentor, I'm a lot more optimistic about achieving this.