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Chatterkick is a creative social media agency based in Sioux City, Iowa, and they have one of the state’s only Digital Marketing apprenticeship programs.
“We created the program in hopes of building out a more structured opportunity to help students, or adults starting a career over, or really anybody looking for an opportunity to get into the digital marketing field,” said Kelsey Martin, COO of Chatterkick.
Chatterkick’s first apprentice started in February 2021, after receiving a grant from the state of Iowa to develop the program.
“The coursework outline for the Apprenticeship is all customized to the way that Chatterkick approaches digital marketing and social media,” said Martin. “The program is extensive. It touches every single facet of the digital space.”
The Chatterkick team followed the Department of Labor’s outline for a Digital Marketing apprenticeship while developing their own outline of coursework. Their apprentices take a series of vetted and tested digital marketing courses that are already available from a variety of online sources. Throughout their coursework and on the job training, their apprentice will gain experience in every aspect of the agency’s services.
For Chatterkick, part of the appeal of an apprenticeship program was creating opportunities to hire individuals who may not have digital marketing experience, but have the right mindset to be successful in the field. Chatterkick specializes in social media and developing digital relationships between brands and consumers. During the hiring process, they looked for individuals that had an understanding of human connection and relationship building, with some knowledge and interest in social media. They asked questions about the content they consumed online to understand the way they view and think about digital media.
Martin said that their first Apprentice was a part-time employee that applied for the program. “Her career has really taken off because she’s had such a wide dive into every aspect of digital. She’s carved out her voice in the company and picked up a lot of tools in her toolkit along the way.”
In the future Chatterkick hopes to expand their apprenticeship program, hire more apprentices, and help other businesses start digital marketing apprenticeships in the same way. The apprenticeship program has helped them create better sources of education for their team internally, as well as for their clients.
You can learn more about Chatterkick on their website.
