Katherine S.
About me
| Katherine S. | |
| History of Art | |
| History of Art | |
| Undergraduate | |
| James | |
| 2014 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Senior comms and marketing professional | |
| Seeking a new full-time role | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Advertising, marketing and PR | |
| Small business (0-49 employees) |
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A day in the life of a Senior comms and marketing professional in the United Kingdom
A typical day involves sourcing news stories and blogs; producing social media; editing the website; and promoting events, talks and lectures via these channels and email.
Briefly describe the organisation you work for
I'm a creative, process-driven strategist with a decade’s experience managing complex stakeholder engagement projects, multi-platform content and campaigns.
Predominantly working in the higher education sector, I've produced impactful work for globally-renowned organisations including the University of Cambridge, St John's College, Clare Hall, the Cambridge Trust, the Ogden Trust, and Ceramic Review magazine.
For the past year I've been working agency side, delivering rigorous strategies, marketing plans and training for clients across education, life sciences, technology and the arts.
I'm currently looking for my next full-time role!
What do you do?
Most recently at Sookio:
- Developing and managing strategic marketing plans for world-class clients.
- Delivering monthly consultancy with in-house marketing teams, planning content and sharing expertise to ensure the strategy is a success.
- Communicating progress, tracking and reporting on account metrics.
- Managing digital and social media content, working with junior or freelance creatives to plan content and to maintain quality control.
- Revitalising Sookio's own marketing across its website, social media and e-comms.
Reflecting upon your past employment and education, what led you to your current career choice?
I'm passionate about writing high quality stories and content, and at both Sookio and the University of Cambridge there have been an abundance of fascinating stories to tell.
As a student at York I created a digital arts magazine and loved writing and editing articles for that. I then graduated and worked for an arts magazine, and this taught me a great deal about working to deadline, having excellent attention to detail and what makes a great piece of news. Throughout my career it has always been topical, time-sensitive and exciting stories I'm drawn to producing, as well as fun and informative social media content, so my current role fits these areas of interest very well.
Is your current job sector different from what you thought you would enter when you graduated?
I thought I'd always be 'in the arts' - but actually you can find the arts in many places, including in the higher education sector. For example, as Communications Manager at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, I enjoyed publicising art talks and exhibitions that the College ran, and interviewing art historians from the University about their research.
Describe your most memorable day at work
An exhibition I built publicity on from the ground up had a very atmospheric private view, and I could see many faces I’d personally invited in attendance. That kind of direct evidence of one’s work isn’t always present day-to-day in marketing, so it’s lovely to see.
Are there any challenges associated with your job?
Each week whizzes by and in a marketing role it often feels like you could do even more towards a given project, if you weren’t also juggling those ten other things…!
What extracurricular activities did you undertake at university and what transferable skills did you develop through these?
I created my own digital magazine (as detailed above) called Yorkshire Art Journal. Through this I learned masses about writing; editing; collaborating with artists and fellow writers; and marketing, too. I highly recommend producing your own project and putting your heart and soul into it, if you have a little time. It's great for your CV and gives you something wonderful to discuss at interview.
What would you like to do next with your career?
Keep on growing and learning!
What top tips do you have for York students preparing for today’s job market and life after graduation?
Being creative and a self-starter is highly valued by employers.
When you are asked to interview, they already think you could do the job, so don't forget this is an opportunity for you to learn about them as much as vice versa!
If you don't get a job you're really interested in, be kind to yourself. There will be other opportunities for you to shine :)
What topics from students are you happy to answer questions on?
Writing (news, blogs, website and social media content)
Editing and proofreading (for magazines, publications and websites)
Website management (including redesigning a website from the ground up)
Wellbeing and meditation session-running (this is something I do in my spare time)
Higher education (guidance on getting into this sector/making a good job application)
General career tips
Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?
You are most welcome to follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherineselby/
Next steps...
If you like the look of Katherine’s profile, the next steps are down to you! You can send Katherine a message to find out more about their career journey. If you feel you would benefit from more in-depth conversations, ask Katherine to be your mentor.