Andrew L.
About me
| Andrew L. | |
| History | |
| History | |
| Undergraduate | |
| Langwith | |
| 2010 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Head of Strategy, PR | |
| Ogilvy | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Advertising, marketing and PR | |
| Large business (250+ employees) | |
| 2012 |
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A day in the life of a Head of Strategy, PR in the United Kingdom
Looking through some job sites and talking to friends led me to investigating advertising as a way of applying those same parts of my degree that I found most interesting.
Briefly describe the organisation you work for
I work for Ogilvy, a global advertising and marketing agency based in London.
What do you do?
I am the Head of Strategy for the PR agency. My role is to create campaigns and ideas with strategic insight. This might involve finding the point of difference for an organisation or business, and then understanding the best way to convey this.
Reflecting upon your past employment and education, what led you to your current career choice?
I took a year out after graduating to travel, and during this time had a bit of a think as to the type of work and field I wanted to go into.
The parts of my degree that I most enjoyed were the historical investigation side (the fact and insight hunting) and structuring the final argument.
Looking through some job sites and talking to friends led me to investigating advertising as a way of applying those same parts of my degree that I found most interesting.
The more I read about advertising strategy, the more it sounded like it was above all else fun, but also a good match for the skills I had picked up from my degree.
Is your current job sector different from what you thought you would enter when you graduated?
In all honesty I didn't really know what to expect (beyond having watched Mad Men, the cliche) but it has lived up to what I hoped the working environment would be - fast paced, inquisitive and always keeping you on your toes with new challenges or problems to solve.
Describe your most memorable day at work
Rather than a most memorable day, I would say the most appealing thing about working in this sector is the absolute true cliche of no two days being the same. It is a very fast-paced industry which I love, and every client or businesses' problem to solve is unique. This means you are rarely going through the motions.
The working atmosphere is also a big draw. It's an industry that really attracts vibrant, interested, creative people. You meet incredibly interesting people every day and you genuinely constantly learn from your surroundings.
Are there any challenges associated with your job?
The unpredictability of the day-to-day mean this probably isn't a sector for you if you crave rigid structure and routine.
What extracurricular activities did you undertake at university and what transferable skills did you develop through these?
I did a few extracurricular bits art York: College JCR, URY, a few societies.
The most useful part of all of this was just meeting different kinds of people. You go from University where everyone is from a similar age profile etc and the workplace is completely different, so meeting as many different kinds of people was in retrospect very useful indirectly.
What would you like to do next with your career?
Continue the journey. The beauty of the industry is that you keep learning on the job every day, however experienced you are.
What top tips do you have for York students preparing for today’s job market and life after graduation?
Be interested in anything and everything. The people you most want to hire are those that are inquisitive and interested in the world around them, not just what they feel they should be interested in.
What topics from students are you happy to answer questions on?
Anything!
Next steps...
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