Lily's Industry Placement at Truffle Social

We recently went up to Shoreditch to visit Lily, one of our Marketing & Communications undergraduate students, on her placement at Truffle Social. You can watch the full interview on our YouTube channel now!

Truffle Social is one of the oldest social media agencies in London, working with a huge range of clients from household names to small businesses. They help their clients with everything from content creation, social media strategies, day-to-day social media management and social PR. They offer bespoke and tailored services, allowing them to work across a wide variety of industries. Medya, one of their Account Executives, has been working with Lily on her placement.

How did you land an industry placement with Truffle?

Lily: I got a three-week industry placement over the summer through the Retail Liaison team at the FRA. They allocate you two work placements as part of the undergraduate degrees. I ended up loving my placement at Truffle Social so much, I asked to stay on for longer!

Medya: I remember it was meant to be Lily’s last day, and she brought in chocolates for everyone and we’d written her a card. She pulled me to one side and said “do you mind if I actually stay?” We’ve had such a good experience with Lily as our intern, she’s been really great.

So what have you been up to on your placement?

Lily: I’ve done some community management for their own Instagram, as well as some of their client’s Instagrams. I’ve also been in charge of Truffle Twitter, writing tweets and engaging with their followers. I’ve also contributed towards ideas about what should be posted, and what fits with certain clients.

I remember when I started I really felt like part of the team, I don’t feel like an intern. At Truffle, your opinions are really valued and they listen to what you have to say!

Medya: I think for us it's been really useful as well. We’re quite a small team so when we get interns in we want them to be confident to bring a broader perspective. We want them to bring a different approach, which Lily has been great at! We’ll have meetings and she’ll speak up and suggest different things, which has been really valuable for us.

Has what you’ve learnt at the FRA helped you?

Lily: Before my degree, I didn’t have the marketing and PR knowledge I do now. Now I can pick up on it, and connect what I’ve learnt in lectures to what’s being done at Truffle. It’s cool to see both the starting process and the end process.

On my course, we’ll plan out ideas and make pitches, but we don’t see the engagement at the end, because our projects aren’t always made for an actual client. At Truffle, I get to see an engagement factor for things that I’ve made.

Do you feel that Lily came to you ready for a marketing role?

Medya: Definitely! I remember when Lily started, it was nice to have that fashion-led approach and way of thinking. My background is in marketing, but not fashion specifically. It's really useful when I ask Lily to make content that she has that knowledge. Campaigns that she’d designed as part of her course could relate to projects she’s done here.

Lily herself brings a completely unbiased approach. We always think what we’re doing is great, so it’s good to get another viewpoint!

Would you recommend doing a work placement?

Lily: It’s definitely worth reaching out to Truffle in the future! They’re really welcoming to their placement students, and use our abilities to the full extent. You’re not going to be getting coffees or photocopying - you’re actually doing stuff that contributes to what clients receive.

In lockdown, I learnt how to do illustrations. Truffle saw that and got me to use it for their clients. It’s cool to see something that I’ve made on a business Instagram!

Any advice for would-be placement students?

Lily: I’d say to go in with an open mind! Sometimes looking at social media or their website won’t tell you the full story. And don’t feel like you're under pressure, think of it as if you are in the classroom. You can speak up and put your viewpoints in! You learn this in your lectures, classes and courses and you can use it in the real world. Get practice using it!

Would you look to take more interns from the FRA in future?

Medya: We defiitely would! At the moment, we’re getting so many enquiries coming in. But for us, it’s about getting people who are happy to speak up and are confident in their abilities and ideas. It’s been very successful with Lily so far, so we’d definitely take someone from the FRA again!

You can watch our full interview with Lily and Medya on our YouTube channel now. All our Level 4 and Undergraduate degree programmes include a three-week work placement with a major brand every year. Applications are now open for 2022, so this time next year, this could be you!