Hi there! My name is Isla, I’m 21 and have recently graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a bachelor’s degree in Media Communication. I currently live in Liverpool where I have been for the past four years and in the last few months started a new role as a marketing executive for a Covid-19 Travel testing company called BioGrad Diagnostics.
Initially, when I applied for university, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in the Media, but I was unsure of what area I wanted to progress in and exactly what I was passionate about. Therefore, when choosing my degree I picked one that covered a lot of content and this really helped me to refine what I wanted to do after graduating. Although I might not have had as in-depth coverage of the specifics in the industry as those with more focused Media degrees, this gave me the perfect starting point in completing a degree that gave me lots of options.
Upon completing my degree I got the call to start working for BioGrad and was recruited to start ASAP as a marketing executive which was perfect for me to starting building more thorough experience in this sector of the media.
To start my day I usually wake up around 6am as I have to commute to work. I spend the next 10 minutes having to pry myself out of bed with the promise of breakfast which is typically something quick to get me going as I will eat something properly once I arrive at work. I then shower, get dressed and sort my makeup and hair. I am usually ready by 7:15 so I sit and relax for around 10 minutes before I leave for the train station at 7:25 and arrive at work just before my shift starts at 8.
Once I arrive at work, the first thing we do is check our Social Media. My job is to answer any messages or comments that we have received overnight about the service. We are a company that has launched out of Covid-19, thus a lot of the information is very new and confusing so we try and make this as simple as possible for people who are travelling abroad. As soon as any pressing issues have been immediately solved, I will move onto planning or posting content for the day or week ahead. We regularly post on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & LinkedIn, so we have to ensure any information we post is timely and up to date for our customers so they have a near perfect experience with us. Another large part of my job is advertising and we have multiple advertising campaigns running at all times, so we ensure we are keeping those relevant and we are targeting the correct demographics. In the team we all take charge of different aspects of this, however I usually take the lead of Google ads, so I spend much of my day scrutinizing profits and understanding what advertising works on this platform and what needs to be tweaked.
Then, I have an hour lunch break usually around 1pm as my shift lasts from 8AM -7PM so I make sure I take some time for myself during my lunch. I usually read my book or watch some Netflix just to break up the day as the shifts are rather long.
Additionally, although the pandemic has been increasingly hard, I myself have managed to make the most of a bad situation considering my current job is now based around the pandemic and how this has affected the travel industry and how it will in the future. This has majorly helped me realise how opportunity can come from anywhere if you look hard enough!
As for advice for anyone who wants to go into the Media industry in general, my advice is to simply volunteer! Experience is a key attribute and any experience is better than none. This has helped me so much in interviews and looks great on a CV if you can volunteer for a company in your own industry, this is even better as you can show examples of previous work. This was massively beneficial for me as I did not have any paid experience in this industry sector but my unpaid volunteering really made me stand out.
Instagram: @biograd_diagnostics