Learning discoveries in Belfast with Erasmus Plus – Traineeship Log by Verena Neumann

Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing hosted Verena from Hanover, Germany on an Erasmus Traineeship in Belfast throughout October 2017. As part of Verena’s professional development she set about logging her new skills and experiences. Find her journey with TrainingMatchmaker.com hosted by Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing in her blog below:

I completed my traineeship in the company: Trainingmatchmaker.com. This company specialises in marketing training courses, trainers, opportunities for trainers and has an objective of inspiring learning. The tasks set out at the initial meeting with Founder: Chartered Marketer Christine Watson included Social Media Marketing. The new platform in beta testing stage promotes learning opportunities and trainers available to hire, giving individuals and organisations the opportunity to get informed.
During my traineeship I was able to get a look into many different task areas of marketing. At the beginning of my traineeship I had the chance to attend a video marketing course by TrainingMatchmaker.com Trainer: Peter Craven and was requierd to put my gained knowledge into practice. My task was to convert a blog on the website into a video and to embed music and images within the video, using the programme: ‘Lumen5’. An end frame also had to be designed in order to lead the viewers to the website of the company. For this task I used the programme ‘Canva’.
This was the first time I had ever worked to create a video and use a graphics platform. To enable me to complete this task I watched an online tutorial. In relation to Canva – my mentor: Christine, quickly demonstrated a ‘how to’ and I learned by doing throughout my three weeks in post.

You can view the Lumen 5 Video here

In addition to that one of my tasks was the continuous updating of the blog of the company which informs readers about Instagram Influencers in Northern Ireland. This was also the theme of the video created using Lumen 5. I was able to grow the list of Instagram bloggers in Northern Ireland up to 100.
I was also responsible for designing and adding company events to the website using the WordPress platform – another new skill for my repertoire. Again I watched a tutorial online and also received one to one training from my Training Mentor Christine. A subsequent task was then adding these events to Facebook and Eventbrite. Eventbrite was the platform used to sell the tickets for each event.

Other new platforms that I was made aware of include: Pixabay  where I was able to find royalty free images and Mailchimp – an email marketing platform.

In order to help the business win sales I researched target customers online and constructed a list of training providers in Northern Ireland that TrainingMatchmaker.com can now communicate to.

On my final day of my placement TrainingMatchmaker.com founder Christine Watson went to a Skills Exhibition and took photos and videos to show learners and trainers relevant information via Instagram Stories. Christine showed me the photos and video content that TrainingMatchmaker.com Instagram followers were able to see.
For lunch Christine and I went to a restaurant called The Academy which is a restaurant for students to train in their future industry. When we entered the restaurant the Mentor welcomed us in German because he found out that I am from Germany. It was special because he showed his language skills and that was really impressive.

After lunch we travelled to Lisburn to attend a TrainingMatchmaker.com training workshop for the Arts Marketing Association – Northern Ireland region members. There were 2 main speakers – Kathryn Pyper taught a marketing metrics lesson and Sandy Webb talked about how to deal with stressful situations and how these situations can affect your life if you don’t find coping mechanisms. My job at this learning event was to take pictures and videos of the Speakers – the TrainingMatchmaker.com Trainers and the reactions of the listeners in the room. These videos and pictures will be quality assessed and published as evergreen website content. As well as being introduced to measurement tools such as google analytics and facebook insights I learned insight into the subject of Resilience: what causes individuals stress and how to deal with it effectively. As a result I am committed to finding and using recommended coping mechanisms that suit me for any future times of stress.

While working with Christine Watson, Founder of ‘Trainingmatchmaker.com’, I learned a lot about marketing and sales and how important Digital Marketing has become and the importance of producing and sharing content that is valued by target customers.

In general I enjoyed my time in Northern Ireland. The Irish are a friendly nation. It wasn’t a rarity to have a chitchat with some strangers. A nice touch I got to know in Northern Ireland was to thank the bus driver before getting off the bus.
Northern Ireland is a beautiful country and there is a lot to visit. Three weeks weren’t enough to fully explore this beautiful country. At the beginning of my stay in Belfast I explored Belfast and was immediately impressed by the kindness and openness of the people. A visit at one of the pubs in Belfast was something I couldn’t miss during my stay. To get to know Belfast I did the Sightseeing tour by bus. Furthermore I visited the Giant’s Causeway, the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge and the Dark Hedges, which are especially well-known because of the TV series ‘Game of Thrones’. Because I am a ‘Game of Thrones’-fan the ‘Game of Thrones’ tour was a must do for me and definitely a highlight. Another trip I took was a trek up Cave hill where you get a good view and are able to see the whole of Belfast and beyond. I also visited the historic Crown Bar, enjoyed folk music in Fibber Magees, the Duke of York, Harp Bar and the Dirty Onion and experienced a cocktail in the 5 star Merchant Hotel.
To sum up I have to say that I enjoyed the time in Belfast and I wouldn’t want to miss it for the world. I will miss the people I got to know in Belfast and Belfast itself and I am planning to come back one day.

About Verena:

My name is Verena and I am 23 years old. I am currently studying to become an industrial management in a company which is located in Hanover, Germany. To improve my English skills and making new experiences, I completed a traineeship in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

About the Erasmus Plus Traineeship Programme:
Erasmus Plus is an educational programme which offers trainees financial aid for their foreign traineeship. Erasmus Plus covers all educational programmes within the EU. International work experience becomes more and more important and is often part of the requirement profile. Temporary employment abroad represents an excellent opportunity to earn international work experience.