Crafted opens the Gateway into digital careers.

Independent digital marketing agency, Crafted, has launched a Gateway scheme to make taking a step into a digital career a little bit easier. The scheme, which is just about to welcome its first starter, will run intakes throughout the year and is open to anyone looking to get into digital, regardless of experience or education.

The ‘skill gap’ has long been discussed in the digital sector, with IAB.UK finding that 88% of the members they surveyed struggle to find qualified individuals with up-to-date digital skills, and that 46% feel that most new graduates are not equipped to take up careers in the digital marketing sector.

Crafted has always focused on homegrown talent, with over fifteen per cent of the team working with the company for over ten years. The introduction of Gateway allows this to be expanded upon, ensuring these entry-level positions are visible to the widest range of potential applicants and allow for structured career development paths and future opportunities.

Ian Miller Crafted CEO, says although the scheme’s intent is not new for the business, the scale will be:

“We have always focused on investing in staff and know good people can build the necessary skills. The Gateway concept has always existed inside the company in some form through apprenticeships and entry level opportunities, some of our most senior roles in the agency started with us as entry-level juniors. However, refining it into a broader scheme just gives us more chance to make others aware of the opportunities, and open to underrepresented audiences who might not have thought that our industry can give them a career. We want it to be a force for good in the industry and to encourage those that may not otherwise consider digital to give it a chance.”

Crafted launched the first role under Gateway last month and saw over 70 apply within the first two weeks. With a focus on the individual and their goals and motivations rather than experience, Nicole Noble, People & Culture Assistant, explains the approach behind the recruitment process:

“It is really important to us that this scheme reviews all applicants on a level playing field. Background, experience, and situation is not important to us. This means welcoming applicants whether they are a parent returning to work and looking for a career change, someone straight out of school, or someone who always wanted to be in digital but never got the opportunity. We also make sure to eliminate any unconscious biases from our recruitment process by blind scoring all applicants.”

The Crafted People and Culture team have worked hard to place the role on job boards that focus on making sure the creative industry truly reflects society, promoting inclusive career opportunities to under-represented groups facing barriers to employment owing to biases around socio-economic, ethnicity, gender, disability, or neurodiversity.

Despite the challenges faced during the pandemic, the agency has continued to achieve healthy growth, something that Ian attributes to its people:

“I have been so proud of what our team has achieved over the last year. It has been hard for everyone, and we have encouraged the team to focus on themselves first, promoting flexible working hours with added support where possible. We have had a record year with award wins for our client’s campaigns which is testament to how our team has pulled together and continued to outperform, even during trying times.”

The launch of Gateway will follow a solid period of recruitment for Crafted, who has seen rapid growth across most teams since the beginning of the year. Crafted have already launched PPC and Data & Insight roles, and will shortly be exploring Development and Production team opportunities. You can find out more on the scheme at Crafted.co.uk/Gateway.