Having been part of the SilverDoor Academy for almost five months now, I can comfortably say that I have become a fully-fledged SilverDoorian! In this article, I’ll be outlining the basics of my role in the Marketing department, as well as providing an insight into the other placements roles within the company. With plenty of social events having already occurred during my last few months, I’ll also be demonstrating what extra benefits being a part of the SilverDoor Academy provides.
9am - 5:30pm Working Life
Having embarked on the SilverDoor placement programme on the 1st July, it’s safe to say that all fourteen of the London and Lancaster placements turned up on our first day feeling nervous and with bags under our eyes. After our induction, we were all ready to start knuckling down at our desks. For the first couple of weeks, the early wake up’s were a bit of a struggle, especially after a rather lax routine at university. However, this soon passed and I started learning and developing an understanding of the fundamentals that my role would entail.
Being a part of the Marketing team, my role is mainly focused on writing content for SilverDoor’s website; blog writing/reporting for SilverDoor, sister companies Citybase Apartments and Central London Apartments and social media content for Central London Apartments. I have also been involved with helping our leisure accounts team, which has been incredibly useful in learning how the company operates on the front line and is an experience which has certainly transcended into developing my understanding of how SilverDoor operates.
One thing that I immediately noticed when joining SilverDoor, is that you are treated as a proper employee and not your archetypal ‘coffee making’ intern. This was something that I considered to be a very important factor when choosing which placement programme to apply to. This was complemented by the fact that the office atmosphere is incredibly friendly and warm, allowing all the placements to fit in swimmingly!
In order to provide more of an idea about what the other members of the SilverDoor Academy do in their respective departments, I asked them some questions:
Account Management: Fran
What does your role involve?
“The main part of my role is to deal with client enquiries. This involves speaking to both the client and property partners in order to help find the best apartment for the enquiry!”
How did you come across SilverDoor’s placement programme?
“I spoke to SilverDoor at my placement fair in Bournemouth, I then went on to apply by sending over my CV and covering letter.”
What tips would you have for someone looking to apply?
“As with any application, make sure you do your research as SilverDoor is in a specialised industry! I would also say to be enthusiastic and confident in your cover letter, CV and interview.”
Finance: Zoe
What does your role involve?
“I help with the upkeep of the company sales ledger by issuing credit notes and payment requests as well as conducting quality checks.”
What has been the most challenging part of your role?
“I would say that learning how to be professional over the phone and wording emails to clients has been challenging.”
What has been your favourite moment so far?
“I had such a great time at the all-staff meeting! Having everyone at the office together at the pub was a lot of fun, even if my head was a bit sore the day after…”
Partner Relations: Joseph
What does your role involve?
“I'm involved in nearly every aspect of the team such as helping train some of our partners on how to use our internal property system and keeping this up to date, sourcing new partners all over the world and being involved in lots of different projects that help the team.”
What is the most enjoyable part of your role?
“The most enjoyable part of my role is definitely the acquisitions side as I love approaching new properties all over the world and being able to get them on-board with us. It's also great to see how this helps our Accounts Team.”
What is the best part of the placement house?
“I believe living in the placement house has meant that I enjoy my role even more at SilverDoor. This is because it means that the people I work with on a regular basis are not just my work colleagues, but also my friends.”
The Placement House:
One of the key benefits of joining the SilverDoor Academy is that you have the choice of living in shared accommodation. Particularly in London, it can be extremely difficult to source affordable accommodation, something which SilverDoor takes into consideration when looking for the placement house. Additionally, not having to organise our own bills or rent as it is taken directly taken from our paycheque, has made the transition into a placement programme even more seamless.
The Social Side:
During the first week of our placement programme in London, we were invited to come along to the annual SilverDoor cricket match, which also acted as a final goodbye to the previous years’ placements. This was a great way of ‘breaking the ice’ with other staff members, even if I may have gone a bit too far by bowling out the Managing Director, Marcus Angell!
Working in the serviced apartment industry also brings plenty of opportunities to meet our partners. This can either be through internally organised events such as SilverDoor’s ‘Partner Engagement Day’ or frequent external events such as familiarisation (FAM) trips. FAM trips are where a partner will invite employees of SilverDoor to visit some of their apartments and then will host a small event which is always a good laugh!
The Lancaster office placements have also been heavily involved with organising office events such as Oktoberfest. With plenty of steins and table-top dancing, it goes to show that both offices know when to let their hair down and have fun every so often!
I was lucky enough to attend a Staycity Aparthotel FAM trip in Liverpool, where we went to go and watch Liverpool vs Red Bull Salzburg at Anfield, Liverpool FC’s stadium. Having been a lifelong Liverpool fan, this was a dream come true, especially as I had never seen them live before. After the game, we were then treated with accommodation at some of their Duke Street Apartments in Liverpool. An unforgettable 24 hours!
Charity and Social Committee:
As a placement at SilverDoor, you are automatically enrolled in their charity and social committee. So far, this has been a testing yet rewarding challenge. We have helped organise events such as a beer pong evening, bake sale, charity auction and office night-in already in our first 4 months. We are currently supporting a charity called Stoll, who help with sourcing affordable accommodation for veterans. At the beginning of November, I and four other staff members went to a guest lecture from Dame Kelly Holmes, hosted by Stoll. This was a fantastic event and great to see how our fundraising is helping make a difference.
I am incredibly excited to see what the next seven months have inline! With events such as the Christmas party still to come, it'll be great to have both offices down in London together and celebrate what has been a fantastic start to life at SilverDoor.
If you are thinking of applying for a role in the SilverDoor Academy, then you may also want to read ‘What it means to be a SilverDoorian’, which is a roundup of Rachel’s year as a placement.
A link to our placement brochure can also be found here.
