By Natalie Whitehouse
English and Journalism graduate Chloé Jones started 2016 in fine fashion, beginning her role as Marketing Officer at the University of Nottingham.
The job came as a result of already being employed at the university, working in The Student Recruitment and Enquiries Centre, where Chloé saw the role of Marketing Officer advertised internally and knew it was a position that would suit her talents:
“The role sounded really exciting and the skills and knowledge required were closely linked to what I’d learnt at university, so I decided to grab the opportunity and go for it! I was so shocked when I was offered the job, I feel so lucky to be in a role like this so soon after graduating.”
The 21-year-old began her role as Marketing Officer of the Faculty of Arts in January this year, where she is responsible for managing the faculty’s social media channels, promoting events within in the university and around the city of Nottingham.
Chloé’s role is diverse. She notes that “every day is different,” with her day-to-day tasks also including liaising with academics and the central marketing team at the university, as well as writing copy for, and designing, marketing material.
She pays testament to her course at De Montfort, from which she graduated in July, stating that the experience enabled her to stand out as a candidate for the job:
“Studying journalism at DMU has been hugely valuable not only in securing me this job, but actually doing it. In the interview I talked about skills I had learnt through university like copywriting, proofreading and designing, and showed my portfolio of work that I built up from my three years of study, like news articles and reviews I had written and the magazine I created in my final year.
“The work experience I did throughout my degree was definitely the most helpful. I’ve worked at my local newspaper, The Derby Telegraph, a local lifestyle magazine, as well as Look magazine last summer. Gaining a first-hand insight into the real world of journalism really helped me understand the industry and gave me loads to talk about in the interview.”
And since starting her role, Chloé has gained even more vital experience, which she knows will only aid her in climbing the ladder in the journalism industry in years to come:
“I’m still quite new to the role so I’m enjoying learning about the different processes involved in marketing, and interacting with so many interesting people. I have a lot of opportunities to be creative which is really fun and there’s a real mix of responsibilities and challenges to take on.
“My job as a Marketing Officer is giving me loads of transferable skills and experience as a stepping stone between here and where I really want to be!”
Where Chloé really wants to be is working in fashion – an area of journalism in which her interest has grown considerably, following previous work experience placements – and she states that this is something she is aiming towards:
“My dream job is to work for a woman’s fashion and lifestyle magazine, writing features or columns. After my work experience with Look, my heart is set on moving down to London and kick-starting my career with a magazine publisher like Condé-Nast or Time Inc UK!”
But for now, the English and Journalism graduate is thoroughly enjoying her first full time role in an industry she has been working towards succeeding in for years:
“Adjusting to a new routine was challenging but now that I feel settled it’s actually really refreshing. It’s rewarding to know that all the work I put into my degree has paid off and that I can apply what I learnt to my job and future roles.”
