People & Variety: And the variety of people!
For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to work in marketing. It was my favourite part of business management studies at school from standard grade onwards, so much so that it was the subject I studied at…
Blog20th Nov 2019
For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to work in marketing. It was my favourite part of business management studies at school from standard grade onwards, so much so that it was the subject I studied at university at RGU. What really confirmed that this was the route I wanted to take was when I secured my third year university placement at NHS Grampian. The job really surprised me – there was so much involved and being a small team and I worked on so many different projects, even running some myself.
When I graduated in 2012 there weren’t many marketing jobs available in Aberdeen, not entry level graduate positions anyway. However after a few months of searching I became aware of a new opportunity at AAB which sounded perfect for me. They were looking for someone to set up and run their social media accounts, along with various other e-marketing initiatives. I had always been aware of the firm and their reputation, and after securing the job was eager to get started come November 2012.
Because the role was new, and it was a completely new area, my contract was only for 12 months. I don’t know if this was because the firm thought that once the social media accounts were up and running there wouldn’t be enough involved for a full time role, or that social media wouldn’t really become a ‘thing’, but I am very happy that this wasn’t the case! Five months after joining AAB I was offered the full-time role of Marketing & Communications Co-ordinator, which expanded my responsibilities to all things marketing and I became the sole person looking after the marketing function internally. To say I was delighted is an understatement.
Fast forward seven years and as the firm has grown into new markets, services and locations; the marketing function has grown and developed as well. Not only has my role evolved significantly but the team has grown from one to three! Although I enjoyed being able to get involved with all marketing projects, initiatives and tasks and see everything through to the end myself, I knew this would not be feasible as the firm grew. I decided that a fantastic way to give me a helping hand, introduce some fresh ideas to the firm and help aspirational marketers would be to introduce an RGU placement student to the team.
Due to the amazing experience I had on placement, I am so thrilled to have now overseen three placements, with each individual bringing their own unique flare to the role. This has also allowed me to develop new skills and responsibilities as I now have my own team to manage, and I find it really rewarding to be able to give the students these opportunities, whilst also moulding my team for the future.
The truly great thing about working at AAB is that your opinion is heard and valued. I experienced this not only when I requested we expand the team (twice), but also in my day-to-day role. I work very closely with technical and specialist sector teams to help them reach their targets through dedicated marketing activity. This also means I get a detailed insight into the future plans of the firm – which is always exciting!
Another really rewarding part of my role is working with the trustees and other members of staff involved with Anderson Anderson & Brown Charitable Initiative (AABIE). My main role here is to monitor grant requests and make recommendations to the Trustees on grant funding applications that meet our Terms & Conditions and identifying the best ways to make AABIE visible in the communities we operate in. It’s great being able to build ongoing relationships with charities in this way.
If someone had told me back when I first started studying marketing that I would end up working at an accountancy firm I would have laughed. Firstly because numbers are not my forte, and secondly because I had always envisaged working at an advertising agency (probably because of how they show this in films!). However, I couldn’t be happier with where my career has led me and whilst I don’t think I could single out one best thing about my experience at AAB so far, I could say two: the people that work here and the variety of my role, and the variety of people my role allows me to work with on a daily basis! It’s been a fantastic seven years at AAB and I look forward to what the next seven years, and beyond, have in store.
Sarah Simpson, Marketing Manager