Starting at Mando was a great personal achievement for me. I was fresh out of college and just waiting for the right opportunity. Working at Mando has really boosted my confidence and begun a never-ending willingness to learn.
In the beginning, joining Mando was quite daunting because I only knew one thing- design. And while that’s perfect for what I was hired for, it still takes time to learn the company and preferences and how to express your passion through working at Mando, and it couldn’t be a better place to do so.
Around the 6-month mark, I found my learning really had just begun. I took on a more in-depth role as Junior Account & Design Executive. This was (and still is) a very big challenge for me as never ever in my LIFE had I thought about any kind of account position at a company.
Now at the eight-month mark,
I feel I have learnt so much.
There were (and still are) tasks that can be super daunting, but I love the challenge and additionally love knowing everything I can so that made this way smoother of an experience. And of course, my colleagues for answering my small, maybe silly but necessary, questions!
Diving further into that side of my job role alone, I’ve learnt about how to run a promotion. From the clients first brief to seeing the promotion go live. It’s so fascinating how much goes into these projects. I’ve started to have my own experience with external companies and whilst I have a long way to go, I feel I’m getting the hang of it. It’s a very humbling experience starting from the very beginning. Like, what’s a credit note? What’s a Scope of Work? I wouldn’t have known 9 months ago and it’s so interesting to learn something that others see as second nature. Furthermore, I learned how to write a cheque – knowledge I will carry with me forever.
Although design was the one thing I knew when I came here, there’s still so much I’ve learned by just being in the work environment and being in real life scenarios where my expertise is needed, you can only learn so much in a classroom.
It was exciting to be able to apply past knowledge and turn them into new ideas for the company. I’m still however, learning truckloads, and what may look like a small detail, can change the entire look of something. I’ve learned about layouts and alignment, I’d say these things are the ‘backbone’ of design that you don’t really think about until you can’t not see it. I have the privilege of creating the Mando Newsletter every month (sign up and read!) This is a fun project to work on as it’s not just being seen internally, hundreds are seeing it every month, so I love that I was trusted with this! LinkedIn was a platform I didn’t spend much time on before working at Mando so learning how the algorithm is and what works and what doesn’t on there in comparison to other social medias has been a whirlwind.
On thing I’ve really enjoyed while working here is how my job differs on the day to day. Some days I’m just working on a design project, other days I’m doing an accounts task, sometimes I’m doing a fulfilment job and packing prizes ready to be sent out. Some days, I’m doing all three! I think that’s what keeps things exciting though. You never know what the next week will bring. I’ve learnt the process of booking deliveries, boxing them up, double and triple checking the information is right then sending them out. Quite therapeutic if the prize isn’t too heavy!
I learned loads from just simply observing. I sit in meetings where I may not talk loads, but I take in an abundance of information from my colleagues by hearing about their projects and hearing the updates weekly. Honestly just taking notes wherever you can has been a huge lifesaver for me, I have a ‘how to’ notebook specifically for all the content I’ve been learning. Looking forward to adding more!
