Reprise and Monash University partner up to offers students industry L&D and real-life employment experience

Digital performance agency Reprise and its long-term client Monash University have successfully launched and completed a new program aimed at helping students achieve real life employment experience; and learn about career opportunities in Australia’s fast paced media and marketing sector.

The inaugural 12-week program hosted four Monash Business School students as part of the University’s ongoing Work Integrated Learning/Industry Experience elective.

Jessica White, CEO, Reprise Australia said it is imperative Reprise nurture future talent by casting its recruitment net wider and finding new and innovative ways to showcase the exciting career opportunities to be found in the media industry: “It seemed logical to form a partnership with our client Monash and work together to create a program that is not only advantageous to the agency, the University and the student, but also has the scope to expand in future iterations and attract and nurture future talent who may not previously have considered a career in media and marketing.”

Says Caroline Knowles, director – global marketing​, Monash University: “​This program offers our students invaluable real-life employment experience and a glimpse into the dynamic media and marketing sector. Collaborating with Reprise allows us to provide our students with a comprehensive learning and development opportunity, while also granting Reprise access to the diverse and talented pool of Monash students.​”

The program involves mentoring and guiding students through a rigorous three-month schedule starting with tough and competitive selection process designed to simulate applying for a professional job.

Says Freya Cronin, digital performance director, Reprise and student mentor: “Our first students were brilliant, they immersed themselves in the learning process and the program proved to be highly rewarding, both for them and as a learning and development opportunity for the broader Reprise team.

“Collectively our student team showed intelligence, curiosity, and professionalism making their presence a joy to have in the office and we would certainly be strongly interested in speaking to all four young men and women about employment opportunities after they graduate.”

During onboarding students receive a timetable of the full program, spanning introductory sessions to the core crafts of the Reprise business, through to a final ‘hackathon’ challenge in the last two days.

Throughout the 3-month period each student is offered hands-on job experience and undergoes comprehensive training in various disciplines including paid search, paid social, content, strategy, and eCommerce. Students also have an opportunity to work closely with selected ‘nest’ teams, assigned to different directors’ areas of responsibility, allowing full participation in daily operations, attending meetings and industry events, conducting industry research, and ultimately gaining insights to help shape potential career paths.

In addition to individual training and team assignments, students are required to collaborate as a group on two mock brief responses, which they present internally during their tenure. During the inaugural program the final ‘hackathon’ brief focused on Monash Open Day acting as an opportunity for the students to showcase key learnings and apply them to drawing connections between their studies and practical experience.

Says Cronin: “This depth of process is hard for young students, but we want them to really get a feel for the industry and all it entails. Through the mock brief response students were able to alternately view Monash as a client, not just their learning institution. Meanwhile, they were able to apply first-hand intimate knowledge to develop effective performance media strategies.

“For many university students, they don’t know what they are getting into when they take up an entry level position, so starting with the interview process we make our learning experience as close to real-life employment as possible and this continues on a daily basis throughout the entire program.

“I’d like to say to future student candidates that a Reprise program is like a very long entry level job interview which has advantages for both the company and the student and will test them every day on every level.  But it’s not all hard work, it’s great fun as well.  Our inaugural program was a huge success both for the business and our four young stars.  We can’t wait to welcome our next round of students.”