sage grad program

tell us about you

• lauren

• digital marketing specialist at fsu

  • responsible for supporting digital campaigns

• I studied Marketing at Florida State University built a foundation

  • finishinng up MBA this summer

• intersection of marketing, data, and technology

• performance marketing because it’s measurable, iterative, and focused on continuous improvement

• actively building my skills in analytics and campaign insights so I can better understand and optimize digital campaigns in fast-moving, data-driven environments like Sage

That’s what attracted me to Sage’s Performance Marketing Graduate Program. I’m excited about the opportunity to build deeper experience with areas like paid search, paid social, audience targeting, testing, and campaign optimization while continuing to grow as a marketer.

Sage’s values

Sage has four core values that guide the company’s approach to work, and they are:

1. Being human through empathy, care and strong connections.

2. Being bold by being courageous, curious, ambitious and creative.

3. Creating trust by delivering our promises.

4. Simplifying by stripping away complexity.

what is sage

• global leader

• cloud-based business software, SAAS

• helps startup , scale up , and enterprise businesses / SMBs

• manage finance, HR, and payroll more efficiently

• use technology & SaaS solutions to help businesses focus

  • more on growth and less on administrative work.

also know about

• 23 countries, 40 locations

• over 10k employees

• over 2m customers

Sage is a British multinational software company and is the UK’s second-largest technology company. It has offices in 23 countries and provides accounting, finance, payroll, and HR solutions to businesses of all sizes.

Sage currently has 11,000+ employees and continues to recruit for graduate and experienced roles annually.

why this role

im interested in sage and this role because

• combines several things I’m looking for in my next step

• focus on performance marketing

• the opportunity to work on real campaigns across diffferent channels

• focus on optimization

• using data to understand what’s working

• hands on role to

  • learn emerging technologies, Work closely with teams

• graduate program

  • combination of training and real responsibility

  • designed around learning, but also gives graduates the opportunity to contribute from the beginning

  • hands on

• Sage emphasizes continuous learning and innovatio

why sage

what interests me

• the scale and the customers they serve

• Supporting millions of small and medium-sized businesses

• the work has a very direct impact

• helping customers understand solutions that can genuinely improve how they work

• drawn to the culture around development

  • environment to continue learning, get feedback, hands on experience

why performance marketing

• measurable and focused on outcomes

• look at whats working, and how you can improve it

• constantly improving,

• youre a problem solver, figuring out whats not going together and fixing it

• what works, understanding why it worked, and improving it further

how do u fit this role

have experience working in digital marketing where I’ve supported campaigns, content, and communication across channels

interested in developing stronger skills in performance marketing

• experience working w data, analytics platforms

• building campaigns

• learning new tools

excitiing about this role is opportunity to work directly on campaigns to optimize performance

strengths

• analytical mindset

  • naturally enjoy working with data and understanding what drives performance

• Curiosity / learning agility

  • natural learner/natural curiority

  • always trying to learn why something works the way it does and better my knowledge

• collaboration

  • working with others

  • team working

  • if you want to go far, go together

  • working with different stakeholders and making sure communication is clear

• organizing and management

  • organized when managing multiple priorities

  • I’ve learned how to keep track of details while still focusing on the bigger goal

• adaptability

  • learning new tools and processes

what is a weakness

sometimes spend too much time analyzing before making a decision

performance marketing, I’ve learned the importance of balancing analysis with speed and iteration, so I’ve been focusing on becoming more comfortable making decisions based on available data and improving them over time.”

how do you work

• structured but collaborative environment

• using goals and data to guide decisions

• enjoy working with others to improve campaign strategy and performance

• very proactive and a self starter

what do you want from this role/where can you see yourself in 3 years here

in 3 years, i see myself as a

• strong performance marketing professional

• confident working across digital channels and using data to optimize campaigns

• developed stronger skills in performance analytics, automation, and AI

• contribute more strategic and technical

looking for a place where I can grow long-term, learn from experienced teams, and gradually take on more responsibility.

How do you stay calm under pressure

“When things get busy, I try not to react to everything at once. I usually step back and figure out what actually needs attention first.”

“I focus on prioritizing based on impact — what is urgent, what affects performance, and what can wait.”

“That helps me stay focused instead of getting overwhelmed by everything happening at once.”

walk me thru ur resume

• marketing at fsu

  • built foundation in marketing, became interesting in what happens once they go live

• during undergrad, i started working at JMI

• after graduating, i stepped into current role & started MBA

  • digital campaigns across channels like social media, email, and web content.

  • creative and analytical responsibilities

• in mba

academic journey

• founding in marketing from COB

  • involvements to learn more about and get experience in digital marketing

• classes and case clubs for campaigns, audiences

• continued w my mba

  • strength understanding of business and decisions behind marketing

motivation

• creative and analysis

• why is a campaign working and why isn’t another

• use different approaches, measure results

optimize for the best , always improving

• outcome drive

How do you managing multiple people with differing opinions?

Give me an example of your experience running a project.

Salary expectatations? Ability working with global teams.

What skills did you have that match the role.

• understanding campaign performance

• reviewing engagement metrics

• supporting email/social/content campaigns

• helping improve messaging

• staying organized

• managing multiple tasks

• meeting deadlines

• prioritizing work

Soft skills

• clear communication

• adaptability

• learning quickly

• working across teams

• staying calm under pressure

racking, dashboards, reporting, insights, GA, data

Situation:
“In my current role, I support email campaigns where we review performance after campaigns are sent.”

Task:
“The goal is to understand what messaging and content are most effective.”

Action:
“I review metrics like open rates and click-through rates to identify patterns, such as what topics or formats receive stronger engagement. I use those insights when thinking about future communications.”

Result:
“It helps us make more informed decisions instead of relying only on assumptions.”

Reflection:
“It showed me how performance data can guide creative decisions, which is one of the reasons I’m interested in performance marketing.”

What are your key strengths? from sage

Focus on strengths that directly match the role, Sage’s industry and environment. Briefly mention them with examples and connect them to business outcomes such as efficiency, revenue growth, and customer satisfaction.

Good Answer:

My key strengths are analytical thinking, clear communication, and ownership. I’m good at breaking down complex problems into structured steps and identifying practical solutions. In my previous role, I used data insights to refine a product release strategy, which increased our launch sales by 35% over six months.

I’m also confident in translating technical product information into clear messaging that different stakeholders can understand, whether that’s customers, sales teams, or leadership. Finally, I take ownership of projects from start to finish. If I’m responsible for something, I make sure it’s delivered on time and aligned with business goals.

sage products

sage culture

Tell me about an achievement of which you are proud?

Choose work-related examples that show a tangible benefit to the business/site or

project. Personal achievements should only be included if they are very impressive or

prestigious.

• JMI 30 campaign

• S: Jim Moran Institute needed to reconnect with its extensive alumni network after 30, they focus on providing executive education

• T: my role was supporting the campaign’s digital presence to promote aweareness and encouage signups

• A: Created and scheduled marketing materials to promote the award applications

  • Coordinated with award vendors, sponsors, and honorees for a smooth day-of experience

  • messaging, email lists, landing pages

• R: Successfully launched an inaugural awards program

  • Re-established and strengthened relationships with alumni and external partners

  • had a list of ppl ready for next year

Tell me about a difficult scenario at work and how you dealt with it

The interviewers are testing how you cope under pressure as well as your problem-

solving and communication skills. Good examples are where you:

• Helped resolve or improve a difficult situation

• Were resilient in adverse conditions

• Showed emotional intelligence and cool-headedness

• S: when we transitioned to a new email marketing platform

  • sudden switch, didnt have a lot of time to adapt or learn before using

• T: learn the new system and adapt our workflow

• A: reupload and organize lists, import content, test features, document steps for team

• R: sucessfully pivot to new platfform, on track with campaiagns , more structured workflow and organized content, more experience with these platforms and etc

Tell me about a difficult scenario at work and how you dealt with it 2

The interviewers are testing how you cope under pressure as well as your problem-

solving and communication skills. Good examples are where you:

• Helped resolve or improve a difficult situation

• Were resilient in adverse conditions

• Showed emotional intelligence and cool-headedness

S: helped support the development of an internship program, wasnt an established structure for how they were onboarded and supported

T: as the intern supervisor, i was tasked with making clearer process so expectations, responsibilities, and communication were more organized

A: document and organize workflows, create resources, set up a project management planner for tasks, weekly check ins, timelines and goals for what theyll learn

R: more consistent experience for interns and made it easier for our team to provide guidance and manage expectations, small process improvements can make a big difference in efficiency and communication, getting more done even with a sometimes leaner team, theyre learning more faster

Why did you leave your last job?

• valued my experience at Jim Moran College

• opportunity to build my digital marketing foundation there

• looking for the next step

• where I can continue growing and gain deeper experience in performance marketing, especially around campaign optimization, paid channels, and analytics