Become Ballpoint's 2025 Growth Graduate
How to stand out from the other 400 applicants.
For the last two years, we have been running a graduate scheme at Ballpoint.
I love schemes like this. I entered my career adjacent to a grad scheme and always loved the focus and attention paid from day one. As my career has progressed, I’ve realised that training and mentoring are some of the most rewarding parts of leadership and management. And so I’ve particularly loved running our Graduate Scheme.
In our first two years we have had two associates join both of whom know orders of magnitude more than I did at their comparable stages in their careers.
So please head over to our Graduate page if you know someone who should apply.
Below I’ve included the characteristics of those who will shine in a scheme like this, a video from myself explaining how to best apply, and some bitesize learnings from our current grads.
For the last two years, we’ve had 300-400 applicants. Almost all of those applications read identically. As readers will know we’re big AI fans here, but unless using it well you’ll only blend in rather than stand out. That’s why we’re focusing so much this year on how to do a good application.
P.S. we’re also hiring a full time head of growth with a paid social specialism – if that’s you, then get in touch.
Characteristics of people who will do well in the Ballpoint Graduate Scheme
Can juggle a lot simultaneously – maybe you run a business in your spare time, or you ran the university newspaper, or you tour with a band, or maybe you've got a YouTube channel that's paid your way through university. Whatever it is, this requires a lot of context-switching and wearing multiple hats and are looking for people who can demonstrate this effectively.
Both technical and creative – maybe you love writing but also have coded your own website. Or maybe you've always been great at stats programming, but also love taking photographs.
Curiosity – this is one of the job's most important characteristics. You will never learn how to sell something to someone unless you are curious about what motivates them, what their life is like, and how we can help them.
Decision-makers happy to get things wrong – growth relies on probabilist over deterministic thinking. And so it suits those who are fast decision makers who are willing to get things wrong. Failing is learning sped up.
Entrepreneurial and ambitious – Not everyone is destined to be an entrepreneur, but because of the highly broad range of skills you'll learn here, it mirrors the ideal checklist for a founder. If not a founder, then we're busy training the next leaders: CEOs, CMOs, and chief growth officers of the next decades.
Hard-working – this job requires a lot of you. It's going to be really hard and you'll be surrounded by a room of the smartest growth people we've ever worked with. Expectations are going to be high from day one.
Problem solvers – creativity isn't just about writing smart copy or good design. Creativity is also about problem solving. If you enjoy the intellectual challenges of fixing things or understanding how they work, then you'll go far
You love the accountability, responsibility and pressure that comes along with doing work that has an impact – The work you'll be doing will have a direct impact on the growth of our clients. Their businesses are often in make-or-break stage, and so within the first year you'll be actively contributing to their success or failure.
How to ace our application prcess
Lessons from our first two graduate associates
We asked a few questions to our current two associates what their thoughts were on the scheme. Here’s what they said.
What candidates should know about the grad scheme
Although the grad scheme focuses on digital advertising, you also learn a lot about how small businesses run in general, and the challenges they face.
It’s an intense learning experience but so rewarding, you are given tasks with real responsibility.
Your experiences and tips you have on putting together a great application
So many people are going to have the same qualifications as you, so you need your personality to shine through! Tell a story that makes you memorable and stand out.
Whilst skills are important, enthusiasm is too! Tell us why you want to be in this industry, what you know about it already and why do you think it would suit you?
What are the biggest benefits of joining the grad scheme?
Opportunity to work in a small team and be trusted with work from the get go, you really do have an impact straight away.
You get so much support and an opportunity to progress in so many different areas, if you are interested in something, you can always get involved.
Getting to work with so many exciting clients spanning multiple industries: food, drinks, jewellery, skincare, healthcare and tech.
What specific skills or experiences have you gained that you would not have otherwise?
The breadth of skills we have been able to build up is really unique, you have an input in each stage of the ad-making process: brainstorming → briefing → production → putting it live in Meta → tracking the ad → analysing performance → takeaway insights.
What did you enjoy most about being part of the grad scheme?
The structure was really great, it is laid out in a way where you learn something new and then put what you’ve practiced into action. Over the 3 months, you really do get to try lots of different roles and see the whole process from each different perspective.
Cheesy but the work culture: everyone works hard, but equally, we have a laugh and everyone supports each other.