This post is in our series What’s it like to be…, giving a glimpse into the realities of certain jobs. Ever wondered what someone who works in marketing actually does all day? What are the lesser-known qualities you need to work in finance? What unexpected surprises does being a teacher hold? This series is here to help answer these questions! This week we’ve been having a chat with Alice (part of The Career Girl team!), who works as Communications Manager in education.
What job do you do?
I’m the Communications Manager for a multi-academy trust (MAT). Until recently I was Marketing Manager, but the department had a restructure and this new role was created. It’s a varied role that includes producing magazines and newsletters, managing websites and social media channels, ensuring all the schools have consistent branding, creating video content, I could go on! I also do some freelance work on the side; a bonus to this specialism is that you can apply the skills elsewhere.
How did you end up in that role?
I’ve always been creative, and I studied Fashion Promotion and Communication at university; it was a really broad course that covered a lot of the ‘stuff’ in fashion – marketing, copywriting, PR, photography and graphic design. After graduating I applied for a job as a graphic designer at Allianz (a global insurance company), I didn’t get that job, but they did offer me a maternity cover role in the marketing team. I took them up on the offer and went from there! What was meant to be a temporary role turned into a permanent position and I worked my way up to Marketing Officer. I’ve always had a desire to work in education (I did think of going into teaching), so after Allianz I went into working for an independent schools group, then the MAT I’m working at now.
What’s your general working day like?
My role is technically office-based, but I go to the schools all the time, which is great as I don’t enjoy being at a desk all the time. I’ll typically start the day checking my emails in case anything has come up overnight – if there has been an incident or anything that could cause negative press, we need to be on it straight away. It could also just be that updates need to be made to websites quickly; communication between schools and parents/carers is imperative, so every time something is communicated e.g. a letter sent home, it also needs to go on the website. I’m often in schools planning with Principals to make sure their goals are being met, which can mean writing and designing a new prospectus, taking photos for their website, organising events, writing press releases, and devising campaigns to promote an area of their offering. One of the schools has a city farm so I’m working closely with them to promote their pop-up incubation project to local schools, plan events (once they can open to the public) and promote the farm as its own learning resource.
Is there anything you do in your job that you never expected you’d be doing?
Branding is probably the biggest area that I didn’t anticipate being part of the job. It’s only once I started doing it that I realised it runs through every aspect of a company – the stationery, signage, staff ID badges, merchandise, letterheads, websites, posters, flyers…it goes on and on. If these don’t all have consistent branding i.e. logos, colours, fonts and style, the whole company can look a bit shoddy!
Is there anything you thought you’d be doing but you don’t?
To be honest, it’s a job that I didn’t really understand until I was doing it, so I don’t think I had many expectations! I think I imagined advertising to be a greater aspect of it, but I now realise that’s a completely different offshoot (that still crosses over with marketing) and a different career path in itself.
Are there any qualities that you didn’t realise you’d need for this job?
Relationship building is key. This is definitely a job for people who enjoy talking and working collaboratively. This can’t happen if you’re not good at building relationships with your colleagues, they need to trust you and believe that you’ll go away and make their vision come to life. It’s also a lot more creative than I expected. You need to be a creative problem solver; I’ll have a Principal say ‘I need more students applying from xyz, make it happen’, so I have to go away and think of what events, campaigns, PR etc we could do to realise their aims.
Any words of wisdom for someone thinking of going into marketing?
Think about what industry you’d like to work in. Every company in every industry needs marketing and communications, so pick the area that most appeals to you! If you’re into sports, look at sports teams’ websites for vacancies; if you’re into food, look for major food brands, restaurant chains or blogs that you like and see if they’re hiring. It may not be possible to go straight into your desired industry, so try to keep your interest going outside of work, in a way that you can evidence when the dream job opportunity does arise. If you’re able to and it’s relevant, start a blog and build a social media presence in the area you dream of working in. When that opportunity comes up you can show you’ve got the professional experience (albeit in a different industry), and you can show them your blog to support your application. This could even open doors that the traditional job seeking route wouldn’t!*
*I’ve been supporting Nina with this website for the last couple of months, a relationship that was built on social media through our shared love for sewing!