Q&A with Digital Marketing Apprentice, Asa Wood

Date: 29 April 2024

For our next Q&A, we have a guest entry from Asa Wood, who is currently undergoing a Digital Marketing Level 3 apprenticeship. Asa currently works at Jenkar Shipping, one of our wonderful clients, however he spends 2 days a week with us at the Wonder office as an extension of our team. Let’s find out more about Asa, his apprenticeship and what he enjoys about his role.

What did you do before your digital marketing apprenticeship?

After leaving high school in 2021, I stayed on at Brigshaw High School to take A-Levels. During my two years at sixth form, I studied business, geography, and sports/exercise science. Business was always my favourite subject at school, and I knew I wanted to pursue a business related career path as I was very passionate and interested about the subject. 

As time passed in sixth form, I knew I didn’t want to go to university and that I wanted to start working straight away and gaining experience. When searching for jobs, I came across a logistics company called Jenkar Shipping, who were based in Wakefield not far from where I live. 

When I noticed they were advertising a role for a digital marketing apprenticeship, it was a no brainer for me to apply. I knew straight away this would be for me and that I would enjoy it. Soon after applying for the role, Jenkar got in touch with me and I went to have an in-person interview. The next day I received the brilliant news that Jenkar wanted to take me on as their digital marketing apprentice.

Working with Wonder

Shortly after starting my apprenticeship at Jenkar, we teamed up with Wonder to boost Jenkar’s social media game and improve our website performance. On top of this, Steve and Amy asked me if I would like to come work at Wonder a couple of times a week so I could learn more about digital marketing and gain more experience. I knew this would be a great opportunity for my own progression, and also for Jenkar’s, so of course I said yes. 

Since being at Wonder, I have gained lots of knowledge and learnt so much on all various aspects of digital marketing and have seen my own progression improve significantly from where I started out. I put a lot of this down to the fact that I have been surrounded by a team of experts at Wonder, who can give me advice and guidance when needed and set me in the right direction. 

Steve is always pushing me to be better and setting me challenging tasks which has helped my progression massively. I’m very grateful that he and Amy gave me the opportunity to come work at Wonder and be a part of their team, as well as Jenkar’s.

What do you find to be the most rewarding and challenging parts of your role?

The most rewarding part of my role for me personally, is when I complete tasks that I have found really challenging. It makes me feel proud that I was able to overcome an obstacle that was getting in the way of me completing my task.

The most challenging part of my apprenticeship so far has been how much information there is to absorb and learn, due to how many different aspects there are to digital marketing. Although it is challenging, I love to learn new things and expand my knowledge, so I'm sure in the long term this will be rewarding.

What would be your advice to others like yourself who are starting out and new to digital marketing?

My advice to anyone who is new to digital marketing, is to have the “never give up” mindset and always be willing to give things a go. There will be times where you find tasks difficult and they will take longer than they should, but all you can ever do is try your best. 

Don’t be afraid to give something a go, even if you aren’t entirely sure how to do it. None of us are perfect, and we all make mistakes and it is much better to try something and get it wrong rather than not attempt it at all because you don’t know how to do it.

What do you get up to outside of work?

Outside of work, I have many hobbies and interests to occupy my free time. I enjoy going to the gym 4 to 5 times a week as I like to keep myself fit and healthy. I believe everyone should do some form of exercise everyday, whether that is going to the gym, going for a run, or even just getting the steps in and going on a walk, as I believe it is essential for both your physical and mental health. 

I also play rugby league for my local community club, Oulton Raiders, where I have been playing for over 10 years, starting out as a junior all the way to the open age. Finally, I enjoy going to watch my football team Manchester United with my brother on a weekend, even though they do really test my patience at times!

Here at Wonder, we don’t want to be just another agency working with a business, we want to build bridges and become an extension of their marketing teams. Working closely with Asa and Jenkar Shipping is a prime example of this and has allowed us to build a great relationship with the client. 

Wondering what we can do for you? Then don’t hesitate to drop us a message, we’re always looking to build new relationships and welcome new clients to our team!