What happens when an apprentice is so successful an agency expands their operations to include more talent? They hire another apprentice.
That’s exactly what happened at this agency where they started with one apprentice who moved into a manager role and hired another apprentice to join the team.
We met Reese earlier from cohort 1, and now let’s meet Joseph from cohort 2 - who both work in search engine marketing (SEM) at the same agency in San Antonio, Pear Analytics.
Ryan Kelly, Founder of Pear Analytics, has been so impressed with all the success Reese has achieved as an apprentice that he hired another apprentice, Joseph, to join their SEM team.
We’ll see where Reese is with the apprenticeship almost over and meet Joseph who just started his journey as an apprentice.
Where’s Reese Garcia now?
Reese, an English major graduate from Baylor, began the apprenticeship journey in January and has built up serious PPC and Google AdWords authority since then. To boost his PPC skills in particular, he’s spoken on a panel, been an instructor to other apprentices on the subject and visited one of the leading PPC agencies to see what more he could learn. “I had the awesome opportunity to visit a leading agency called Disruptive Advertising over the summer and through that experience I learned best practices on creating processes to manage accounts.”
As Reese says, the apprenticeship has helped him build a moat around his career in building up marketing skills other that AdWords and PPC. When Reese started at Pear Analytics back in January, he was the only team member working on PPC and SEM, but now there’s Joseph on the team. Hee says, “now there’s two of me”. One key element guiding Reese into the role of a manager is outlining processes that he can easily share with Joseph.
“What I care most about is making sure I can share what knowledge I have with Joseph to make sure he gets to be where wants to be as well.” - Reese
Meet Joseph Hwang
Joseph kicked off his apprenticeship journey in August with cohort 2 after realizing he wanted to change careers and break into the digital marketing world. He landed his first marketing job as an SEM Analyst at Pear Analytics - just at the right time when the agency is moving more toward PPC and SEM operations.
Joseph worked tirelessly to prepare for the apprenticeship and earn certifications to help him land the role of a SEM Analyst. He earned his HubSpot Inbound - and wrote about it here - Google Analytics, AdWords, and HubSpot User certifications.
“DCI provided an opportunity to get my foot in the door. I knew I wanted to transition into digital marketing but it was hard to initially break into the field. Every job or position available required several years work experience and I didn’t have that.” Joseph now hopes to expand his skill set to include content marketing and boosting his writing portfolio. He’s already tackling a few freelance gigs to practice his writing skills.
What do these 2 apprentices have in common?
Both Reese and Joseph learned PPC and Google AdWords on their own - even before starting the apprenticeship. Tackling self-directed projects outside of their regular jobs allowed them to acquire enough digital skills to land jobs in marketing. They both come from academic backgrounds other than marketing and upon realizing they wanted to break into digital marketing, they knew additional skill development was required. They joined the apprenticeship as a way to further their learning in a way that’s far easier than doing it on their own.
Even though they both specialize in PPC and SEM in their jobs at Pear Analytics, they understand the need to have a wide variety of marketing skills on their belt to be successful in digital.
The role of career coaching and professional development for apprentices
Reese describes his coaching sessions as helping him think about the business less accidentally and more intentionally, especially as he creates a set of procedures to follow for scalability. He also details the benefits of having someone from the outside looking in on his career.
“Perspective and clarity - those are impossible to have when you only look inward. To be able to have those two things from someone who has a sharp understanding of career development and how business organizations function is incredibly helpful.” - Reese
Joseph also details the importance of having someone new come into his life to provide an outside perspective and be critical when necessary.
“Prior to the apprenticeship experience I already knew I needed a mentor to course correct and focus on my priorities. Aurora’s coaching, not just professional, but also personal development has been very impactful for me. She provides different insights and is able to combine so many different nuances of your self to paint a picture.” - Joseph
For both however, coaching guides them on how to talk to clients and manage relationships. Especially working at an agency where you’re potentially talking to multiple clients each day, it’s important to know how to best approach that communication.
What’s the benefit to the employer, Pear Analytics, to have these apprentices?
- DCI head coach Aurora Geis guiding Reese into the role of a manager and Joseph into an agency environment
- Increased collaboration and cohesion of the SEM team
- Joseph and Reese are committed to learning more about all things marketing, especially their focus of SEO and AdWords
Once the apprenticeship concludes for Reese he’ll continue to master the PPC world and add value to Pear Analytics. As Reese says, “Through additional learning of digital marketing skills other than PPC I feel like I have enough to be a solid T-shaped marketer.”
As for Joseph, he’s just begun the apprenticeship and has many more digital marketing skills to learn. Being new to digital he doesn’t know what area he wants to specialize in yet, but by the end of apprenticeship he’ll have made significant progress toward becoming a marketing master.
See how the right coaching, mentoring and skill development can lead to marketing career success - read more about the DCI apprenticeship model.
