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Starting Out In SEO: A Chat with SEO Technical Analyst Olivia Demnyk

SEO Technical Analyst, Olivia, hasn’t been with the WMG team for long, but she’s already got stuck into her new role.   

The anxiety of starting a new job and joining a new team with limited experience can be daunting. Throw a pandemic into the mix and the shift to hybrid working and you’ve got a whole new situation to contend with! But Olivia is here to calm those nerves and show you how her experience of joining WMG was a fulfilling one – and it can be the same for you.  

Why did you choose WMG?  

Previously, I worked for Pretty Little Thing. I was doing merchandising and I’d been doing that for quite some time, but throughout lockdown, I realised I didn’t want to continue pursuing a merchandising career. There were elements of the job that I liked and elements that I didn’t like but I knew I wanted to go down more of a sole analysis route.  

What was the application process like?  

I started looking at what positions were available that would utilise my analysis skills. I found the job advert for WMG on one of the job boards and I’d read the description, read about the company and what they had to offer, the kind of training and progression they provided. I registered my interest in the role and Emma in talent acquisition got in touch with me and we set up an initial call to chat about the role, it was quite casual.  

It was through chatting to her and her telling me about the company, what it was like, what the environment was like to work in and what kind of things I’d be doing that really spiked my interest. Upon hearing about that, they set up a proper interview and I got to meet some people in the teams.  

So that’s kind of how I found WMG. I stumbled across it on the job board but having spoken to people who worked for the company that’s what made me think, “this is a place that I do want to work at. It sounds like it’s up my street.” 

Why did WMG feel like the right fit for you?  

Everyone was just really friendly. I spoke to Lauren, Chris and James on the call, and it was nice because Chris and James are quite high up, but they were still very easy to talk to.  

I could tell it wasn’t a company where there’s a strict hierarchy in place, where you can’t talk to your managers, or you feel nervous to approach senior management. They were super friendly and told me a lot about the job. It was more of a casual discussion; it didn’t feel too formal or too intimidating. Chatting to those guys really sold the role to me. They were also saying that the skills I had would be a good fit as well, so it just seemed to fall perfectly for me.  

How did you find the remote onboarding process?  

It’s been really good. I came into the job a bit unsure because not that many people have started a job in lockdown. It is a bit of an unusual situation so coming in, I didn’t know what the training would be like and if the agency would have got a good training process in place over the last twelve months. 

The first week includes all the presentations from the different areas in the business so you kind of get a feel for what the company is about as a whole and how it all ties in together. Then your individual training is shadowing other members of your team, so you can pick up different skills through that. There’s also the IDHL University, so there’s lots of information on there and topics you can cover. All the training is recorded sessions and saved in folders, so whatever you need, you can find it and if not, you can ask others.  

Using Teams and using videos, it’s kind of second nature to everyone now. It doesn’t feel unusual, and it doesn’t feel like I’m missing the personal aspect of it because chatting to someone on Teams is just as valuable as chatting in person. The benefit of it as well is that you can share your screen. In fact, it’s great that you can see the screen and you can also record the sessions. So, I think there are a lot of benefits to working from home.  

What has it been like building relationships with people from a team perspective?  

I was wondering what it was going to be like, but it’s been great. And all the guys are really good, fun, approachable and easy to talk to.  

Within my first week, I was shadowing Tino, and he was really calm and patient and talked me through everything. It was also just nice to get to know someone one on one to start with. We have a team call every Monday where we go through admin bits and stuff that Andy, who’s our pod leader, needs to cover. However, this is also a good time to chat and find out what everyone has been up to at the weekend and get to know people on a more personal level.  

Then we’ve got the team chat as well and there’s continuous talk on there, so it doesn’t feel like you’re on your own. You’ve always got your team that you can approach and if I’ve ever got any issues that I don’t want to perhaps ask the full tech team, I’ve got my own team to ask. Since I started, there’s been quite a few new starters so you’re not the newbie for long, which is nice.   

Is there anything you’d say to ease the nerves of a new starter?   

The people that I’ve met, everyone has been so lovely, and we’ve had all the social events so actually, it’s one thing chatting to people on Teams, but meeting them in person and getting to know everyone has been great fun.   

I’d say it is a really good company to work for and me being new and coming into a totally different kind of industry, I felt so welcomed. I’ve had really great training, everyone has been so welcoming, and I don’t feel under pressure.   

Plus, I don’t have a crazy workload. It’s all very manageable and the training is there for you. It’s all gone really smoothly and I’m really enjoying it. If SEO is something you’re interested in or you’re looking for an analyst position, whether you’ve got the SEO background or not, then you’ll enjoy it.  

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As the market grows and changes, we grow too. Are you ready to kick off your career in SEO surrounded by friendly and supportive people? If you are interested in working in our SEO team or have any other questions surrounding recruitment, don’t hesitate to get in touch