GenM Student Success: How this GenM Student is Using Her Experience to Become a Digital Nomad
Carla Hadland dipped her toes into digital marketing when she started her travel blog, Cosmic Traveller, whilst working abroad. It was here that she fell in love with the idea of the ‘digital nomad lifestyle’ — working as you travel.
However, she knew she needed a wider range of experience to find a full-time job in digital marketing, and that’s when she found GenM!
Now with 2 apprenticeships and a third one currently in progress, she’s well on her way to creating that digital nomad lifestyle she’s always dreamed of!
Hi Carla! So first, tell us — what was your main reason for wanting to do an online digital marketing apprenticeship?
Well, put simply, I wanted to make a career move into digital marketing, whilst still working a day job.
For years I had been writing and building my travel blog, Cosmic Traveller, and my social media following, and I had built a lot of skills related to digital marketing.
The thing is, I didn’t realize that what I was already doing came under the umbrella term of ‘digital marketing’! When I realized this, I went full speed towards finding a way to build the skills I needed to work in that area.
In fact, I was in a kind of unique situation — I had just married a French guy (I’m British) so I was living in France and still picking up the language. Getting an apprenticeship or internship here was almost impossible with my lack of language skills and also the process is different here — you have to be a student to do an internship.
So I started searching online for English-speaking companies in France and the UK who might let me work at distance so I could keep working my day job (as an English teacher in a French school), but it was hard.
Somewhere along the lines, I typed in ‘digital marketing internship’ into Google and GenM came up. Et voila!
What apprenticeships have you completed and with who?
Currently, I’m working with Kimberly Ryan at List and Launch Media, and I’m actually finishing up an apprenticeship with Davide Panzeri at GenM. Before that, I was an apprentice for Lara Harb at The Social Media Artist.
I love all my mentors and am so happy to have worked with them. I think I’m really, really lucky!
What digital marketing experience did you have when you applied for your apprenticeship?
Before I started my apprenticeships I had experience in social media and branding, a little experience of Mailchimp, some graphic design, blogging, and of course, writing for my blog and other people’s blogs.
I had a little experience in lots of areas, but it wasn’t to a professional standard in them all. Now I have concrete experience in so many areas — analytics, social media, market research, email marketing (love this), design, content marketing, brand creation, SEO… so many!
What are your top tips for students looking to secure an apprenticeship through GenM?
1. Know what you’re looking to gain experience in.
If you’re looking to gain experience in content writing, look for someone who is looking for an apprentice to help in that area. If you’re working in an area of digital marketing that you don’t really like, you will feel unmotivated.
2. Be positive.
This is an important one and something I’m just starting to really understand. It’s crazy how much your thoughts shape your reality. So be sure to stay positive and know that *you CAN do it!*. It might sound cheesy but it’s true.
3. Be professional and work hard.
People take you more seriously when you present yourself well and have confidence (even if you have to fake it before you make it). 😉
Favorite marketing tool(s) you use in your work?
Canva because it’s so easy to use, especially for people like me who have never learned Photoshop or more complex design software.
Medium — because I love writing and I love how simple it is to create a post that looks great without having to edit too much stuff.
Shopify — maybe not considered a ‘marketing tool’ but I just think it’s an incredible resource for online e-commerce, and I love how your store can be linked to so many different apps and sites to optimize it. Also, the Shopify blog is great — I’ve learned so much from that alone!
What’s your dream job?
Traveling the world while I work remotely in marketing as a digital nomad, or working in Paris in the marketing department of a great start-up or creative company. And one day I want to own my own online store. 😉
What are your next steps?
Get a job in digital marketing, either in Paris or remote, and on the side create a simple online store that doesn’t necessarily have to be anything groundbreaking — I want to test it out and try out different marketing techniques to see how well it can succeed and learn new stuff before launching a bigger one. And also grow Cosmic Traveller even more!
If you are looking to build your digital marketing portfolio and acquire in-demand skills, GenM can help! Sign up at genm.co/student or download the app for iPhone and Android and start searching for an apprenticeship today!
