Independent digital marketing agency Sparro has hired seven new digital marketers as part of their ‘Digital Starters’ program.
The program aims to bring new digital marketers into the industry, targeting graduates and career changers.
Agency partner, Cameron Bryant, says this is how Sparro has grown a diverse, highly-engaged team.
Bryant said: “We decided early on that if we wanted to be better than the competitors, we couldn’t just hire their staff.
“We’ve been committed to hiring and developing new marketers since.
“We get to train new staff our way and there are no big agency bad habits”.
He added: “We think the industry has a responsibility to try and better itself.
“With universities still behind in digital training, agencies have a commitment to bringing new talent in and training them with actual hands-on skills.
“There’s no other way to solve the skills shortage in digital marketing”.
The six-year-old independent agency has now grown to 32 staff, including ex-lawyers, engineers and journalists.
The recent hires come from a range of backgrounds – including education in law, commerce and IT; and roles in fashion and direct marketing.
Recent hire Mel Ah-See said: “When I first saw the Digital Starters program advertised I thought it was too good to be true”.
Ah-See added: “It was everything I was wanting to get into that I just wasn’t able to learn at uni.
“Now that I’ve started I still cannot believe my luck. I am learning new things every day in an environment that thrives on innovation. I love it!”
The 12-month program includes structured training, one-on-one mentoring, and offsite sessions with Google and Microsoft.
The ‘Starters’ work across the 5 teams in the Sparro business, mentored by the team leaders and a ‘buddy’.
The agency grew at 76 per cent in 2018, and anticipates another strong year driven by new accounts and growth in retail accounts.
The starters program allows Sparro to plan for future growth, says Cameron.
The program will be run twice-yearly.
