Meet Nadia
Marketing Intern

We first met Nadia when she came to visit us at the Oxford Brookes Careers Fair in 2019.  She was interested in the summer rotation programme we were advertising because it offered her the opportunity to work in different areas of the business and experience  how those teams worked. At the time she  was studying an honours degree in Business Management and looking for an internship for that summer. “The rotational aspect of the internship was an excellent opportunity to identify where my interests were.  It gave me a good overview of all the departments and as Webexpenses is a SaaS company it wasn't an industry I’d worked in before.”

Nadia already had some marketing experience and found that this was the area of the business she enjoyed the most, but was eager to learn more.  Whilst marketing wasn’t part of her degree she took a marketing module which helped her to understand what was expected. During her time with us she was involved in various areas of marketing from general administrative tasks to client marketing and competitor research.  Learning to use Wordpress and understanding how to manage the back end of a website were also tasks that she was given and as her knowledge  and confidence grew so did the responsibility.  Working with the Digital Marketing Manager she learned how a website works and was then able to review site management and spot any glitches.

One of the main things she’s learned is how to effectively communicate with clients as well as internal teams, which wasn’t something she’d learned at university. When communicating in a work setting she soon realised that there are different ways to communicate and different roles to consider within the organisation structure.   Nadia also told us; “I’ve also learned that when you are part of a company you are one.  The better the work you do the better the results are for the whole company.  There will be short and long term goals and you will be responsible for what you are doing.”

During her time with us she picked up a number of transferable skills; from teamwork to organisational skills, time management, multitasking and managing projects.  All of which will be invaluable when she starts her career but also helped her with her degree course as she was able to apply what she’d learned whilst working with us to her course once back at university.  

“Make yourself available and do everything to the best of your ability...Offer to help others by doing the things they don’t like doing and show an interest.  This will have a big impact.  Enjoy every second of it, have fun and make friends.” Nadia went on to tell us that by taking the time to get to know people on a personal level it  made her experience a more enjoyable one. In the summers of 2020 and 2021 Nadia returned to work in the Marketing team so it was clear that she was enjoying and benefitting from her time with us.

And what about students considering an internship with Webexpenses, would she recommend it?  “Absolutely, 100%.  I cannot emphasise enough how much it has helped me not only professionally but on a personal level too.  There is always support when you need it, from colleagues, your manager and the wider business.  There’s a great open door policy here, the CEO is always available to help too.  There’s a great social aspect and I have loved the team get togethers and company wide events.  This has helped to build relationships and that’s key to more effective teamwork.”

Nadia graduated in December 2021 and returned to us in January 2022 to start her career with us as a Marketing Executive. So what is it that keeps enticing her back?

“A massive draw was the people and the culture.  From the moment I first arrived I was made to feel welcome.  Everyone was friendly and went out of their way to speak to me.  Starting an internship you are filled with nerves but this calmed me down and really boosted my experience. I have loved coming back and I have good relationships with people in the team.  It’s been an invaluable experience and the knowledge I’ve gained has helped to shape the way I think in general.”