As part of our #UCLInspireMe series,Melissa Collins, PR Manager at River Island, talks to us about how she got this role and shares some tips for UCL students who want to get into Fashion PR.  

How did you get into your role?

Before obtaining my current position at River Island, I gained a lot of experience working for other brands. I started my work experience at different magazines such as Bliss and Cosmo before I decided to pursue a career in PR. Then I secured an internship at Boxfresh for a year before going on to work for a range of brands such as Ralph Lauren, Warehouse and Arcadia where I moved from being a showroom assistant to a press assistant to press officer. In 2012, a senior press officer position came up at River Island and I jumped at the chance as I loved the brand and everything it stood for. After a year and a half, I was promoted to PR Manager and I’ve never looked back.

How important is it to have a degree in fashion to secure a job in the field?

A degree in fashion will start you off in a great position – if a CV was placed on my desk, one of the first things I look for is the candidate’s degree and the course they studied. However, work experience is also crucial when applying for jobs in PR and journalism, alongside having confidence, great presentation skills and knowing the industry you want to work in inside and out. If you’ve worked within the industry already and have that insider experience, it isn’t as essential to have a fashion-related degree but it certainly helps!

What are the best things about working in your role?

The best thing about working in fashion PR is that no two days are ever the same! I could be on a photo shoot one day, a breakfast meeting with journalists or in the press showroom the next. I love this industry, the buzz you get when you see your brand featured in the likes of Vogue, Sunday Times Style and other prestigious magazines is incredible. Also, the creativity is great, you get to put on some fantastic events, press days, product launches and many more. On a whole, the fast fashion industry is constantly changing and I’m excited to see where it goes in the next ten years.

What are the biggest challenges you face in your work?

Time! There are never enough hours in the day. The world of PR has changed a lot of the last few years. When I first started I was working with just magazine/paper/broadcast journalists, but now online plays a huge part, as well as bloggers. I feel like I have to spread myself more thinly across all the areas.

What advice do you have for students wanting to pursue a career in PR?

Fashion PR is fun, creative and very fast paced. It’s really important to gain as much experience as possible; I had to do a lot of work experience and internships to get that first break, but it will come, you just have to be patient. Communicate with as many people as you can, if you meet a lot of people along the way and make a good impression, chances are that they will remember you. During a work placement role, make sure you stand out from the other students and graduates by going above and beyond what is asked of you. That will make you first in mind when that dream role comes up!

 To find out more about PR or Fashion visit Careers Tagged

As part of our #UCLInspireMe series, Lucia Weinber, Brilliant Club tutor and PhD student in Experimental Psychology, talks to us about how she got this role and shares some tips for UCL students who want to get into the academic sector.

How did you get into your role?

I am a Brilliant Club tutor and a first year PhD student at the Experimental Psychology Department. I found out about the Brilliant Club via an email of the UCL Graduate School. The relevance and suitability of the Brilliant Club as a part-time position specially tailored for PhD students motivated me to learn more, which I did through their website. I sent my application and was invited to the assessment centre to do a mini-lesson. I have just finished my first placement working with KS4 students, an enriching and exhilarating experience.

What are the best things about working in your role?

My PhD revolves around understanding teenage brain development. However, I deal with this in a laboratory setting. Having first-hand experience with adolescents in a real life setting has positively informed my research questions and procedures. I aim to do research that has applications beyond theoretical inquiries, and I believe this experience has helped me to better orient my research.

Working with students is stimulating and very fun! These interactions can be incredibly rewarding. Also, going into schools can be a welcomed break and change of setting once in a while. The programme is specially designed for PhD students and provides a flexible schedule and much of the work can be done from home or from the lab (i.e. planning the tutorials or marking). The Brilliant club is a meaningful way of engaging with the public and spreading the word about your research.

What are the biggest challenges you face in your work?

I had little experience as a teacher for young students before starting. Designing my course and materials, specially tailored for a 15 year old audience, was a big challenge. Delivering lessons and making sure students understood and followed along was sometimes tricky. Extra work on top of a time-consuming PhD is also a challenge, and you need to develop time managing skills. Fortunately, the Brilliant Club really supports and trains the tutors, and they are always willing to help.

What top tips would you pass on to a student interested in this type of work?

In academia, most of us will find ourselves in front of a classroom at some point or other. I think the PhD is a perfect time to start developing teaching skills and didactic strategies. Don’t underestimate the challenge of teaching. There is widespread belief that being a research student automatically gives you the ability to talk about your research or teach. Even if we have been students for very long, there is a lot to learn in order to become an effective teacher. It is a good idea to explore teaching assistant roles to work with undergraduate students. Structured programmes such as the Brilliant Club provide a very useful scaffold to go beyond university students and reach different audiences.

To talk to a Careers Consultant for further information on applying for a PhD, visit: www.ucl.ac.uk/careers

As part of our #UCLInspireMe series, Kirsty MacDonald, Shopper Marketing Executive for Personal Care at Unilever talks to us about how she got this role and shares some tips for UCL students who want to get into the Marketing sector.

How did you get into your role?

I’m Kirsty and I am on the Unilever graduate scheme in the marketing stream. My current placement is within shopper marketing personal care so I look after all in-store activity within our customers for Unilever’s male grooming brands including Lynx, Dove Men+Care and Sure. This is a local market placement where you concentrate on running brands as if they were an almost self-contained business. The next role will be more long term and strategic looking at the global direction of Unilever’s brands.

I studied Economics and Management at Oxford University before doing an MSc in Global Politics at LSE. Throughout my degrees, I became very interested in global businesses run in a sustainable way and Unilever came up time and time again as an example. I also wanted broad business exposure that taught solid principles that could be applied across industries and cultures. The FMCG industry particularly appealed as the end user you are aiming to reach is one of us, not another company like in banking or consulting, and there are numerous functions you work incredibly closely with such as marketing, sales, finance and supply chain. It was a real chance to learn ‘business’ (if you can be that broad) in a solid and varied way.

What are the best things about working in your role?

My role, as with any job, has its positives and negatives and they are often linked. I love having real responsibility – as soon as I joined I was given a very important project where I was the lead. I looked after all the budgets, forecasting, implementation, coordination of different parties, external communication to customers and much more. Although responsibility is fantastic it does come with some slightly stressful times. However you are given support and training throughout and the company’s culture is fantastic. We are one of the main advocates of agile working so I work from home at least once a week – as long as you get your work done and to a high standard you are given the freedom to work how you want. Other benefits include a salary raise every six months you are on the graduate scheme, a fantastic and industry-renowned training programme and the chance of a management position after you finish. The rotational nature is great for gaining experience especially within the marketing stream as you have a local and global market placement looking at more short term P&L management in the former and more long-term strategic decisions in the latter.

What are the biggest challenges you face in your work?

As I said, there are positives and negatives to every job. My most serious challenge would be coordinating all the different parties to reach an end goal. As mentioned before Unilever is incredibly cross-functional and everyone needs to contribute to drive our brands forward – you cannot isolate yourself and perform individually as you can when doing an essay or problem sheet at university. Often what is top of your list is at the bottom of someone else’s so it can be a struggle to manage even small projects and deadlines. Secondly, as the name suggests, the industry is incredibly fast moving and sales, plans, projects can change extremely quickly so you have to be willing to adapt, come up with solutions and leave sunk costs rapidly. Finally, at times it can be stressful however this is only really within working hours. As you depend so much on other people and functions for your work there is no real advantage of working late and this is not in our culture. My working hours are typically 830-6pm but within that time your brain works hard.

What top tips would you pass on to a student interested in this type of work?

Unilever, and many of the other industrial or retail companies, put huge weight on their competencies and it is always about demonstrating them in your applications, interviews and assessment centres. Do make sure that you tailor your application to each company however if I was to summarise what they all seemed to be looking for it would be ‘doers’. That is, people that don’t just concentrate on their studies but have interests outside of this, from sport to music to debating – it doesn’t really matter exactly what it is as long as you have a variety of passions. Relevant work experience is a plus but it is not a deal breaker so don’t get too hung up on this.

If you’re interested in a career in Marketing, visit Careers Tagged and find over 550 resources to get you started.

As part of our #UCLInspireMe series, Matt Pelly, Documentary Producer/Director talks to us about how he got started in the Documentary Production  sector.

I’m a documentary producer/director for BBC and Channel Four, making things like 999: What’s Your Emergency and Routemasters. I always wanted to work in TV/Film, and made lots of rubbish films as a kid with my brothers. I studied Drama & French and university and got my first job as a runner on Bargain Hunt at the BBC a year after leaving University.

How do I get in to a role like this?

There are two ways in. One is to make your own films until someone realises how brilliant you are, but they are difficult to fund, it can take years, and you’ll need to get lucky or have rich parents.

The other, and more common way, is to start at the bottom as a runner making tea. As they say, the cream will rise, and it generally does. Apply to everyone and anyone, but more importantly meet people, get work experience and keep going til someone gives you a job.

You need to have passion to make films/tv programmes professionally. Its hard work and long hours, and you won’t survive if you don’t really care about it. Don’t do it for the glamour. It is fun but it takes a toll on your social life, and there’s more than a few single 30 & 40-somethings out there in TV world. Make student films, and learn how to make them better. Make it your business to know the sector, and meet people making the kinds of films you love. Keep moving and keep learning. Don’t be too proud to work hard and make the tea. Be nice to people, have a ready smile, and show passion and interest. People will remember you and help you if you’re good to have around.

What are the pros/cons of your role?

Best things are I get to be self-employed, be creative, work with creative people, musicians and sometimes actors, meet/interview famous people, and travel the world. But that’s all gloss on the whole; the best thing is I get to make films which i love.

Getting in is hard, but it’s hard all the way if you don’t want to be pigeonholed, so you have to be focussed on what you want to do. It’s hard and not for everyone, but it beats the 9-5 in my book.

And one thing I read in a magazine once: the hardest thing is knowing what you want, the easy thing is doing it.

Good luck and enjoy.

Visit Careers Tagged to find out more information about Documentary careers

As part of our #UCLInspireMe series, Kavita Shankar, Content Marketing Executive at BSkyB talks to us about how she got his role and shares some tips for UCL students who want to get into the Marketing sector.

How did you get into your role?

My name is Kavita and I work in Content Marketing at Sky. How did I get this role? Well actually I applied for the marketing graduate programme at Sky and I got to the final assessment centre stage but wasn’t offered the role. A few weeks later I got a call from the HR team at Sky asking if I was interested in another role within Talent Attraction in HR. I really loved the company after experiencing it at the assessment centre and jumped at this opportunity. A year and a half into the role an opportunity came up in Content Marketing, exactly what I was looking for. I always had a passion for marketing and even structured the modules in my Psychology degree at UCL to suit this career.

What are the best things about working in your role?

There are several great things about this role. In a nutshell, I manage the marketing relationships between Sky and our partner channels, working on joint marketing campaigns. This gives me the opportunity to work with many different people/channels that vary from Discovery Channel to Disney Channel. No day is the same, working on different routes to market from radio features on Heart FM, digital ads you see in the tube stations to billboards on the roadsides.

With invites to channel launches and show press conferences some of the highlights of the role have been meeting Karl Pilkington and Dynamo, walking the red carpet with Bruce Willis, the premiere of Captain Phillips with my favourite Tom Hanks himself and bumping into some of the Kardashian family on my way to a meeting!

Oh and nothing can beat the standard benefit for all Sky staff – the full Sky package in all its HD glory for free!

What are the biggest challenges you face in your work?

It’s not all watching TV! Sky is a fast paced environment, which is challenging and what I love about it. Specifically in my role with so many channels and points of contact one of the biggest challenges is managing the workload, this is where organisation is key. Meeting deadlines is important as many of these timelines are dictated by media delivery dates. Marketing is a creative industry but also very process led with many stakeholders – managing key stakeholders is a challenging aspect of the sector.

What top tips would you pass on to a student interested in this type of work?

1)     Do as much research as possible, read articles, marketing sites and keep track of the innovations in the sector through blogs etc.

2)    Try and gain experience in the field, ideally both in agency and client side to be able to see how it all works together. Some companies may offer unpaid experience but this can be priceless on your CV.

3)     Go to career fairs and company presentations, this is a great opportunity to meet people in the field and ask them any questions you might have.

4)    A genuine interest in the field you are marketing will be what gets you up in the mornings.

5)    Don’t be afraid to try areas you are not familiar with, you never know what you mind end up having a passion for or being good at.

6)     All experience is relevant as it will help build skills required in any sector or role, take as many opportunities available to you and make the effort to seek them out.

7)    Try do something that will make you stand out in an application or an interview – for example I did a film internship in Bollywood in Mumbai and worked in the carnival Samba Schools is Rio, things like – this will help differentiate you from other candidates.

If you’re interested in a career in Marketing, visit Careers Tagged and find over 550 resources to get you started.

As part of our #UCLInspireMe series,Tara Protheroe, Graduate Trainee (Fundraising & Marketing) at Cancer Research UK, talks to us about how she decided to undertake a career in the Charity sector.

Firstly, here’s a little contextual info about me. I’m 23, I went to the University of York, and I graduated in 2012 with a 2:1 in English Literature. Finding my first job was initially challenging; although I had a CV full of skills, university positions and part-time jobs, I lacked a professional internship or in-office work experience.  

So, how did I get into my role?

I’d always thought I’d like to get into marketing and applied to multiple jobs in my 3^rd year with little success. My lack of office experience was holding me back, so I started looking for internships.

I didn’t actively seek a charity role, but came across Cancer Research UK and was impressed by the variety of internships available.

I secured a role in Innovation Marketing, working on the Dryathlon campaign. After 3 months at CRUK I knew I wanted to stay; the work was stimulating and I was truly passionate about the cause. There weren’t any permanent roles available so I (successfully) applied for the graduate scheme.

What are the best things about working in my role?

I’d say the best thing about the CRUK Grad Scheme is the variety and the quality of the work we’re given.

We stay in each department for six months and work on an independent project. Where we go is partly dependent on business need, but there’s a lot of scope for us to choose roles based on our preferences. The responsibility we’re afforded is also a real benefit.

The organisational culture is fantastic. We’re frequently reminded of our core purpose in our daily work and surroundings.

What are the biggest challenges I face in my work?

Changing projects every six months makes the work more interesting, but also allows you less time to settle in and excel. Similarly, the responsibility and autonomy I am provided with makes it imperative that I motivate and organise myself effectively, which can be tough.

The size of the organisation can also be a challenge; there are so many different departments it can be difficult to keep track of and work effectively with all of your stakeholders.

What top tips would you pass on to a student interested in this type of work?

Start early! Think about what you want out of a career in your first year and try to gain relevant experience. But if you haven’t, don’t despair, there’s still plenty you can do.

If you want to work for a charity, think of the type of role you’re interested in – marketing, finance, etc., and look for work experience in those areas. You don’t have to have charity experience to work for a charity; it’s the transferable skills that are important.

If you’re working full time or an internship isn’t possible, there are still ways you can volunteer your time and gain skills in the process. If you’re interested in events, consider organising a fundraising event yourself, such as Relay for Life. If media or communications are your thing, write a blog, or approach a smaller charity and see if you can help them with their publications in your spare time.

The most important factor for any role, but particularly this sector, is passion. Would I have got the job had I not done an internship? I don’t believe I would – without it I wouldn’t have had the requisite passion, knowledge and confidence to impress at interview.

If you’re interested in a career in the Charity sector, visit Careers Tagged and find over 400 resources to get you started.

As part of our #UCLInspireMe series, Joni Browne, Research Officer at the Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR) part of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)  talks to us about how she got this role and shares some tips for UCL students who want to get into the Research sector.

How did you get into your role?

After five years of frenzied trial and error in other roles, I worked out that I needed a job which was varied, required a mix of interpersonal, academic and analytical skills, and had a structured career path. Research was particularly appealing because it has the power to influence and shape an organisation’s policies and strategies. I got my foot in the door by applying for a graduate role at a market research agency called IFF Research where I quickly gained exposure to different research methodologies across a variety of sectors. I then moved into health-related researcher/analyst roles in the NHS, Ipsos MORI and Capita. Last year I took up my current position as a Research Officer at the Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR), where I spend most of my time evaluating volunteering programmes for voluntary organisations.

What are the best things about working in your role?

If variety is the spice of life, then research is Spiceworld. I’m involved in qualitative and quantitative research, so tasks I might carry out include designing questionnaires, conducting interviews, analysing data and presenting findings. There are periods where I might be out doing fieldwork, talking to volunteers or staff at voluntary organisations, and then other times I might be by myself agonising over some data, what they mean and how to best explain them in a report. No two projects are ever the same, and each comes with its own challenges so it’s always stimulating and I’m always learning.

I’m fortunate enough to work with extremely bright, thoughtful, supportive people that I like and learn from. We can debate serious matters such as research ethics one moment, and have in-depth discussions about ‘MasterChef’ or croissants the next – all with equal fervour. If I’m working on a stressful or difficult project, having good colleagues around takes the edge off it.

What are the biggest challenges you face in your work?

Job security can be an issue depending on how the research role is funded and whether it’s agency-side or client-side/in-house. Fixed-term rather than permanent contracts are the norm for some roles given that many organisations (especially in the voluntary sector) are seeing their research budgets squeezed. The hours of work can sometimes be unsociable if you have to travel for fieldwork. Finally, it’s worth noting that if you want to make millions, retire at 40 and sip piña coladas on your own private beach, research isn’t the area to get into. I don’t think the pay ever truly reflects the effort and range of skills required to do the job well.

What top tips would you pass on to a student interested in this type of work?

Social research and market research are highly competitive, but do not be deterred. I’d recommend the following:

1. Try to get onto a graduate scheme. While some bigger organisations are better known and look good on your CV, a smaller organisation might give you more responsibility more quickly
2. You might want to specialise in either qualitative or quantitative research but consider gaining skills in both to maximise your attractiveness to employers
3. Try to take degree modules which have a research methods component for training in research techniques and an understanding of the theories behind them
4. Strong IT skills (especially Microsoft Office) are essential, and if you can use software such as SPSS, even better
5. Getting voluntary work experience as a researcher is one way to gain practical experience and get a taste of whether you might like to pursue it as a career
6. It’s worth identifying organisations you would like to do research for, checking out their website and sending them your CV on spec. Other channels you might use to find graduate schemes and research jobs include CharityJob, Jobs.ac.uk, Guardian Jobs, and Milkround.

If you’re interested in a career in the Market Research sector, visit Careers Tagged.

As part of our #UCLInspireMe series, Rhona Hunt, Police Officer talks to us about how she decided to join the Met some tips for UCL students who may be considering taking part in the Police Now scheme.

How did you get into your role?

Policing, as a career, does not cross the minds of most graduates and those that do consider it are often put off by common misconceptions about the job.

I studied Speech and Language Therapy at UCL. After graduating in 2013 I turned to a career with the Metropolitan Police Service as a Police Officer. This decision baffled my peers and family members.

I always knew that I wanted to work with people and make a difference to people’s lives. In my first year at UCL I applied to be a volunteer Police Officer (Special Constable) with the Met. During my first two shifts I attended a large disturbance at an illegal rave and a stabbing. After that I was hooked. For the next three years Policing became my hobby and I worked as a Special Sergeant in Camden Borough.

I worked on the Emergency Response Team answering 999 calls to rapes, serious assaults and pretty much anything else you can imagine. I also worked with detectives on murder investigations and serious sexual assault investigations. I policed the Royal Wedding, the Olympics and the Paralympics.

During these three years I met people from every background you can imagine and encountered the very best, and the very worst of humanity.

It was the most interesting, challenging, exciting and satisfying job I could imagine and I knew I had found the career I wished to pursue.

After graduating I joined the Met as a full time Police Officer. For the last 12 months I have been working in Neighbourhood Policing in Hackney and I haven’t looked back.

What are the best things about working in your role?

You can make a real difference. My role encompasses such variety but everything you do has meaning and purpose; helping people, preventing crime, solving crime and trying to resolve community issues.

There are roles to suit different interests and skills and your career path is flexible. Our new Graduate Programme, Police Now, offers internal and external internships and on completion of the programme supports candidates wishing to move onto jobs outside of Policing.

What are the biggest challenges you face in your work?

Initially I found that my risk management and problem solving skills were really tested. This can be a bit overwhelming, especially as your decisions have real consequences but having settled into the role I now enjoy the challenge this brings.

The predominantly negative image of Police Officers portrayed by the media can be incredibly frustrating.

What top tips would you pass on to a student interested in this type of work?

Police Now is looking for the brightest and best graduates, who want to make a difference. As well as being incredibly bright we are looking for well rounded candidates with fantastic interpersonal skills.

Police Now are looking to run some skills sessions at UCL later in the academic year so keep an eye out for these.

Want to find out more?

Visit http://www.metpolicecareers.co.uk/graduates/

As part of our #UCLInspireMe series, Claire Mawditt, PhD student at the department of Epidemiology and Public Health, UCL talks to us about how she decided to undertake a PhD and shares some tips for UCL students who may be considering further study.

How did you get into your role?

I trained as a mental health nurse initially and worked within a range of mental health settings for 7 years. I enjoyed the work but became frustrated at seeing the same problems occurring again and again (for example people struggling with money, family, stress, drug and alcohol use). I decided that I wanted to make a difference at a higher level and felt research was the way to do this. I started a Masters at University College London in Social Epidemiology and worked part-time as a research nurse in the NHS in order to fund my studies. I really enjoyed this time (2 years) and was excited by the prospect of changing people’s lives through research. That is when I decided to apply to undertake a PhD at UCL.

What are the best things about working in your role?

The best thing about my role is that I am in complete control of my research project and have the freedom to work when and where I want. The work I do is very interesting and I am learning new things every day. It is very rewarding and exciting to think that my research can influence health policy and change people’s lives.

What are the biggest challenges you face in your work?

The biggest challenge is staying motivated, because I do not have anyone looking over my shoulder every day and telling me what to do. This means I have to manage my time well and cannot rely on anyone else to do my work for me. It is also difficult to choose a research topic when there are so many interesting subjects to choose from.

What top tips would you pass on to a student interested in this type of work?

My top tip is to make sure that you are doing a PhD for the right reasons such as making a contribution to a certain field of research, your passion in the subject and wanting to learn more. A PhD is a big commitment and can be difficult at times. Therefore it should not be something you decide to do because you have no other ideas or because you want to be called a doctor at the end of it.

I would also advise anyone who is considering doing a PhD to talk to PhD students within their department whilst they are at university and to their lecturers who would have done a PhD in order to teach at university. You can also access a lot of help and guidance on considering and applying for a PhD through your University career services.

To talk to a Careers Consultant for further information on applying for a PhD, visit: www.ucl.ac.uk/careers