LSEJ Alumni Conference 2018

Just a section of the questions asked to Panel 1

 

Beth Dyson -Do you have to have worked at proactive PR to work for them?

No, not necessarily but it dose help if you have left a good impression you would be in a good position.

 

Rhodri Jeremiah-When you see how fast pace sports reporting is how did you feel?

You learn on the job, you are nervous when it is all getting started your head is just in the work and what your doing.

 

All- I want to work for a specific company how would I do that?

Carli Ann Smith – I wanted to work with motorbikes, so I made myself the ultimate candidate, one thing I did was to get my bike licence.

 

Carli Ann Smith- Did you always know you wanted to go in to motorbiking?

Yes I did like horses but the I found motorbikes had more horse power.

All- Should you mix work with hobbies, will you fall out of love with it?

Rhodri Jeremiah-When you are working in the moment your passion goes and you just have to focus on the job.

Carli Ann Smith-There are moments when you have to pinch yourself, but if you get to the point when you start falling out of love with it, you need to change and do something different.

 

Emma- Having worked at so many different stations how did that help you?

Getting different experiences dose help, when I worked in Manchester it was mostly hard news such as murders, where as in Lincoln there is soft news like fames or red arrows. Doing this help as I learned from other journalist, going to different places meant that it was more likely that I would be in the right place right time.

Next up panel 2….

 

Luke Todd- Graduated with first class honour. Editor at Fashion Beans; their website has 1.5 million visitors a month which is more than GQ

Lucy Vince- Content producer at Food Network and Travel Channel International. Manages social media, covering articles including recipes, trends and destination hot spots.

Jess Jones- Multiple accounts at RPB agency, diverse clientele including Harley Davidson Accounts

Hannah Gilby- Business reporter for Lincolnshire Echo, started from work experience and didn’t let her go!

Emma Greatorex- After her masters has become a free lancer for channel 5 who deals with their reporting, video planning and was even outside the hospital when Princess Kate came out of hospital with baby George!

A familiar name to many LSJ students is Daniel Ionescu. Daniel graduated from the university of Lincoln in 2010, he set up The Lincolnite which has grown to be one of the regions most popular news websites with more than 171,000 readers monthly. He gave the current students his three top tips;

• Build a portfolio. Building up a record of all your work is extremely useful and important when applying for work experience placements and jobs.
• Be present with social media. Including your twitter and instagram on your CV is a good way of showing your social media skills- but be careful! Your potential employer doesn’t want to read about your lunch or last nights antics!
• Keep in contact with your university friends, they could be your most important contacts!

Carli has had a passion for motorcycles since she first rode one at the age of 12. She now works as a motorcycle journalist at Mortons. After her degree on Marketing and Public Relations at the university of Lincoln in 2010 she moved on to work at a PR agency and looked after many accounts, such as Harley-Davidson UK. Travelling the world with her work, she has experienced many exciting things!

Carli has many roles in her current job, including riding and reviewing motorcycles, writing features and working on their social media. Carli is an example of how your passions and hobbies can shape your career in this sector and again stressed the importance of work experience when looking for work in the PR and journalism sector. She also advices students to “make yourself the ultimate package” when trying to appeal to a certain company, make yourself irresistible!

Leigh was a student at the university, but originally admits to be a “Yorkshire Lass”. She studied journalism and specialised in television and radio. Whilst at the university she volunteered at the community radio station Siren FM and BBC Radio Lincolnshire.

Her roles have varied through the years and she recently has been promoted from a news room reporter to a full time breakfast show broadcaster. Currently, she is trialling her own show which airs on the 18th of April which is an amazing achievement.

From starting out by making cups of tea and writing scripts she has worked for many different stations around the country but is proud to be back in Lincolnshire and doing so well.

Leigh goes on to tell us that its not just the degree that is important. Its the people you meet and the information you know that will get you where you want to be.

 

Beth Dyson, only graduated last year with a first class honours degree in Management and Public Relations at the University of Lincoln. Beth realised she wanted to be a part of the PR industry when she was doing her A levels and from then she started to do as much work experience as she could, which included working with a variety of PR agency’s to build her CV and broaden her experience.

Now just a year after graduating from the University of Lincoln, Beth works for proactive PR as the account Executive and Digital Content Marketing Consultant. This has given her so many amazing opportunity’s including traveling the world, last year she was taken to Las Vegas by one of her clients. Next week Beth is off to Barcelona for work of course…

Rhodri always knew he wanted to work in the sport industry, as soon as he graduated he sent out his CV’s and went to various PR and journalism interviews- Some successful, some not!

He starts by pointing out some tips for us:

Advice: “Find out what the dress code is!”

Advice: “Whilst on work experience, always offer to make cups of tea- Everybody loves tea!”

He landed the job at Sky Sports by emailing the executive. “Always send out emails, everybody has connections and they will get back to you”. A few weeks down the line he was asked to go down to the offices for an interview. Within his two days on work placement, he felt eager, mucked in,  and got involved!

“Opportunities will arise”

Rhodri got the job as “runner” for rugby at Sky Sports. He has now worked there for six years and has recently been to Australia working as a Senior Graphics Director. He admits it is a great job and feels like a “hobby”.

A day in the live of Rhodri involves four people in a truck covering live broadcasts of the matches. He sits with the loggers, and producers deciding what camera’s to stick with to filter the live footage and highlights for the commentators and the audience.

He then goes on to give more advice for the students; “Do everything!”

By getting involved we build up our personal portfolio to show employers what we can offer to them. “Get inspired” he did, and its got him the dream job he always wanted.

 

Beth Dyson- Proactive International PR Account Executive and Digital Content Marketing Consultant.

Rhodri Jeremiah- Worked for Sky sports for seven years; now is a senior graphics Director in the Rugby Union Department.

Carli Ann Smith- Graduated from Lincoln University in 2010; motorcycle journalist at Mortons Media.

Daniel Ionescu- Founder of The Lincolnite; four years on it is a sustainable digital native business as one of the most popular news websites in the region.

Leigh Milner- Full time breakfast reporter after being a volunteer at the University’s station Siren FM and BBC Radio Lincolnshire.