Ellie works for South Yorkshire Police as a Media Relations Officer
Ellie graduated from the University of Lincoln in 2016 with a first class honours degree in BA (Hons) Public Relations and is currently a Media Relations Officer for South Yorkshire Police.
She has previously worked as a Communication Intern for GE Healthcare before her current role in the police force, where Ellie has a variety of responsibilities including writing press statements for the public, issuing court results, working directly with officers to gather information for appeals and generating articles to express the positive work of the South Yorkshire Police. Ellie also regularly liaises with journalists on a daily basis to arrange interviews, respond to their enquiries and organise press conferences.
Find out what Ellie has to say during the conference through our Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages! #LSJalumni2017
“What would you have liked to have known before you went into this industry?”
A question from a student that returned a range of answers from our panel today.
Opening up the discussion, Vivek Sharma explained the importance of gaining experience in all types of media in order to stand out against other job applicants. Jonathan Hart and Chris gray used their knowledge of freelancing to express the benefits of shadowing a freelance worker to make your CV stand out.
Hannah Gilbey mentioned the value of shorthand and networking whilst, Beth Dyson shared a similar view, saying that whilst making contacts is important, acquiring skills from fellow journalism students is also very worthwhile.
As the event draws to a close, it’s safe to say the #lsjalumni2016 event has been a great success!
At 3pm the floor opened for questions to our guest panellists.
One of the main points so far has been the question of “how valuable is work experience?”
Johnathan Hart stressed the importance of experience, describing that when looking at a CV, work experience comes first before a Degree.
Beth Dyson shared her view on the subject, explaining that whilst studying for her degree, she took as many work experience opportunities as she could, almost working a full time job whilst studying in her third year at Lincoln.
It is clear that hard work has contributed to our alumni’s wealth of knowledge.
Question time continues as the floor is open to questions from Twitter.
After a special speech by Vivek Sharma featuring a video message from ITV presenters the #lsjalumni2016 event is off to a great start. Questions from the audience mention the glamour of the business, Vivek shares that “If you want the glamour side you need to work hard”. His hard work certainly paid off when he got the chance to cover the news of David Bowie’s death outside his home in New York. He said it was incredible to witness tributes to the singer.
His final words of advise are to take every opportunity available to you, however frequent, to keep things “fresh”.
still to come, questions to the panel. Feel free to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
With everything set up and ready to go, we thought we’d give you a small bite of information on each of our speakers.
First up, Vivek Sharma. Who has 15 years of producing live TV shows under his belt and a wealth of knowledge. From his humble beginnings as a runner for 5 news he’s worked his way up to covering stories all across the world for Sky News and ITN.
Next up is Beth Dyson. First class Honors student in Management and Public Relations she has worked with organisations such as BAE systems and the RAF, as well as the Typhoon Force group. Today she will share her anecdotes from her varied work experiences.
Panellist Jonathan hart, BBC sport Multimedia broadcast assistant has used his experience with Siren FM to launch him into working with Radio 5 Live, producing a wide range of sports programmes.
Michaela Solty’s joins us today with an array of work experiences which vary from a Social Media and Marketing Assistant for artsNK right through to her current position at the Lincolnshire County Council as an Assistant Communications Officer where she can apply her skills collected from her journalism degree.
Chris Gray, 2 months into his BBC contract as a Broadcast Assistant, will share his thoughts on the industry and after winning Best Documentary at the 2015 BJTC Awards we look forward to hearing his perspectives on the world of journalism.
Last but certainly not least, Hannah Gilbey. Hannah is currently the business correspondent at the Lincolnshire Echo newspaper. Since graduating from her Journalism degree in 2013 she has taken on a wealth of work experiences such as freelance work at Heart FM and a few front page opportunities. Today she will be giving us an insight into her world.
The annual PR and Journalism alumni conference returns to the University of Lincoln tomorrow featuring guests, Vivkek Sharma, Beth Dyson, Jonathan Hart, Michaela Soltys, Chris Gray and Hannah Gilbey.
Vivek, assistant editor for the ITV Breakfast show ‘Good Morning Britain’, will be the keynote speaker. The day will consist of a welcome speech by head of school Jason Whittaker followed by questions to the panel.
The event provides the opportunity for alumni to network whilst giving out words of wisdom to current PR and Journalism students.
We hope to see you there, you can like us on Facebook for updates or follow us on Twitter!
A: Lucy – It depends what kind of internship and what type of company. You can log onto portals and register interest through there. Don’t upload a 7 page CV – it’s pointless and won’t be read. Be concise.
Dave – Go onto career pages and browse available opportunities. At sky we offer a range of platforms and offer 2 week work experience programmes. Everyone says the same thing – hard working and enthusiastic – we want to see experience at the top. 2 sides of A4 is the maximum.
Shradha – You are selling yourself. It’s got to be about you and show your personality. Save some experience to talk about at the interview.
Q: What would you say is the biggest change from Journalism/PR to Marketing?
A: Lucy – There is a lot. You won’t understand the key skills until you’re in a work place. Be open minded. You need to apply different skill sets into a completely different job – it’s difficult.
Q: What experiences are you glad that you took?
A: Dan – Writing a blog is a great experience. It helps you develop your skills in writing. It creates a good portfolio and shows people your talents in writing.
Jono – Doing hospital radio was great. Once walking round the hospital I found out that the headphones by the bed didn’t even work – so I had been presenting for over a year to no one.
Q: How important are portfolios?
A: Besma – So important. Every graduate applies for internships so you need to stand out.
Jono – I am incredibly unorganised, I don’t know where most of my work is. I am usually just lucky.
Dan – Keep newspaper cuttings, every single one from day one. It’s different and shows what you can do in an alternative to a CV.
Lucy – Keeping track of what you’ve done over the years. Having a reference outlining mini profiles of what you’ve done it great. Write about the aims and outcomes.
Shradha – To be honest I don’t have a portfolio, most of the stuff I do is on my blog. Keep in contact with people from networking events.
Dave – They’re hugely important. We need to know how you sound. Produce a package of around a minute, maybe even include an interview to demonstrate how you handle them.
Q: How much have you engaged in social media in your job?
A: Dave – Twitter can be your best mate and your worst enemy. You have access to information instantly. It’s a very useful tool. We are in a completely new age. You have to go through vigorous checks before you post anything found on social media. Editorial control is vital in the way we handle social media.
Shradha – I look after 3 social media accounts. It is very difficult to make construction interesting. You need to know your audience and how to make something like ‘A day at the waste’ interesting. It’s just about getting your information out there. Even 1 retweet is good!
Lucy – Our tweets have to go through a 9 chain approval process, so the act of tweeting isn’t really done. Working in a highly controlled area social media is difficult. Social media and everything you put out there can be found – be really mindful of what you out out there.
Dan – Social media is the perfect way to engage with your readers. However it can bring back positive and negative results. Everyone has twitter and the littles thing can reach you, you have to watch out for red herrings so check your sources.
Jono – We are the best at social media according to stats. If in an interview you said you weren’t interested in social media you would not get the job. We often use social media before the radio, it is a completely different outlook.
Besma – We’re a small company so social media is a very useful tool when making documentaries. It’s a must.
Q: Do you strict guidelines as what you can put on social media?
A: Dave- We won’t run a story unless we are 100% sure that it’s fact. You have to check and check and check again.
Jono – If we say it on the radio then we would tweet it, if we wouldn’t say it on the radio we wouldn’t tweet it.
Lucy – It can cause the most amazing storm.
Q: What are the most likely pitfalls we will face?
A: Lucy – It’s hard work. Life at university is exciting and work out of university is fast paced and hard.
Shradha – Manage your expectation, you won’t get the job you want straight out of university.
Dave – Patience is key. You can be disheartened by rejections but don’t be. Don’t run before you can walk. You have to be prepared to travel.
Jono – Don’t always chase money, do what you want to do. Go into where you want to be, don’t follow the money.
Dan – You’ve got to be prepared to take rubbish jobs, you have to work your way up from the bottom.
Lucy – No one will do it for you, you have to do it yourself. Don’t compare yourself to your friends. You have to make it happen.
