Placement leads to job role for Teesside graduate Tai

Teesside University graduate Tai Soyebi is returning to Sage after spending time with the firm on placement.

Tai, 22, from London, who graduated from the BSc (Hons) Marketing, secured her role working within Sage's Routes to Revenue Growth team, supporting commercial growth and revenue strategy.

She said: “I didn’t go into university thinking that I want to become a marketer. I just knew I liked understanding people, ideas, trends, and why some things just work while others completely flop. Marketing ended up sitting in the middle of all of that.

“Then over time, especially during my placement at Sage, I realised I enjoy the strategy side even more like figuring out customer behaviour, growth opportunities, product positioning, all of that.

“The biggest thing for me was that Teesside University felt like a place that wanted students to do things, not just sit in lectures for three years. A lot of the opportunities I ended up getting came from putting myself forward through the university, whether that was my placement year, competitions, networking, or industry projects. Looking back now, that probably mattered more to me than anything else.

“Completing my placement helped me understand what side of marketing I enjoy most. Before Sage, I probably imagined marketing as mainly campaigns and content. Then during my placement, I got exposed to revenue planning, product thinking, customer journeys, market modelling, and commercial planning and I realised this is the stuff my brain naturally enjoys.

“During my degree I enjoyed working on real business challenges, presentations, campaign planning, and team projects that felt close to industry work. I also liked how the course gave me the confidence to communicate ideas and think more strategically.

“Long term, I see myself moving further into strategy, growth, and product-focused roles within tech. University helped me realise I enjoy work where you have to think deeply, solve problems, understand people, and connect ideas together rather than just doing one repetitive thing every day. I think the biggest thing I’ve gained over the last few years is clarity. I’ve become a lot more confident in the kind of environments I thrive in and the kind of work that really excites me.

“My advice for anyone studying at Teesside University would be to make the most of everything University has to offer beyond your lectures. The best opportunities usually come from the extra things like placements, competitions, networking, random opportunities you almost talk yourself out of applying for. A lot of the experiences that shaped my confidence and career came from doing exactly that.”

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