Jenny L.
About me
| Jenny L. | |
| Women's Studies | |
| Women's Studies | |
| Taught Postgraduate | |
| Wentworth | |
| 2017 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Communications and Events Officer | |
| Zero Tolerance | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Charity and voluntary sector | |
| Small business (0-49 employees) | |
| 2017 |
Like this profile?
Add this profile to your favourites so you can return to it later from your account.
A day in the life of a Communications and Events Officer in the United Kingdom
Working part time in 2 charities in Edinburgh
My career goals when I graduated
Honestly, when I graduated I really didn't have much of an idea at all what I wanted to do. Since then I can't say I'm much further on with the idea! But I think in general, I want to work for organisations that I think do good in the world and that are well managed.
My career history
All through uni I had part time jobs.
Once I graduated from my masters, I worked at the Careers Service at the University of York as a Graduate Intern Student Engagement and Marketing.
Then I moved back to Scotland where I was underemployed for about 6 months - I was working in a yoghurt shop, whilst volunteering at Global Justice Now.
Then was an administrative assistant at NUS Scotland.
Then I worked 2 part time jobs - Communications and Marketing Assistant with VHS 3.5 days a week, and Project Support Intern at Zero Tolerance, 1 day a week.
Then I swapped VHS for Health in Mind and worked there 3 days a week, whilst still doing my internship at Zero Tolerance.
And then I was offered a full ltime role at Zero tolerance, so quit at Health in Mind
Courses taken since graduation
Since graduating I attended the ATTAC Summer University on Social Movements at University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès. I learnt about a whole host of social movements I hadn't engaged with before, as well as growing my knowledge of ones I had been aware of. In learning about campaign tactics I think I am better equipped in the future if I ever want to apply for a campaigns job - but that remains to be seen!
My advice to students considering work
A job isn't for life - if you're not sure what to do, you aren't going to figure it out by doing nothing. If you're not sure what you want to do; just try something out! I wasn't even really sure what "marketing" entailed before I got the internship doing it. Try not to get too stressed about it - saying yes to a job isn't saying you'll do it forever. Don't ask "What am I going to do?", ask "What am I going to do next?". It makes the next decision seems way less scary and definitely helped me freak out slightly less.
My advice about working in my industry
The 3rd sector is highly competitive - you've got to be constantly on top of it to even get an interview. I wasn't even the only applicant with a masters in Women's Studies to the internship at Zero Tolerance.
Volunteer if you can afford to, intern if you can, run your own projects and campaigns; university is the perfect place to do it. Find something you want to change - even if it is really small - and work it start to finish. That is the kind of experience that really helps.
Most of the the jobs are funding dependent - which means working to contracts of a few months to max 2 years most of the time which is pretty stressful stability-wise.
Other advice
Confidence/Resilience: Apply for that job you think you might not be totally qualified for but you know you'd be great at. The role at VHS was advertised wanting someone with a year's comms experience - I only had 6 months, but I wrote the application to show I was passionate about their work and I got it! Sometimes we all get a bit of imposter syndrome. But it is so important to power through that. Women especially tend to think we are not doing well, or are underqualified for roles - we've got to fight that by believing in ourselves! I tend to ask myself - would a straight white cis able bodied man with my qualifications be confident they could get this job? Then I am too! Don't sell yourself short because you've been told your whole life by societal structures that you're not quite good enough. Smash that application like it's the patriarchy itself.
What I do
Developing and delivering effective communications and media strategy.
Leading on the delivery of the Write to End Violence Against Women Awards.
Generating media and press interest in Zero Tolerance activities
Skills I use and how I developed them
Communication: the most difficult part of my job is making violence against women, patriarchy, and gender inequality understandable to the general public. It takes time and concerted effort to speak and write in plain English. For me this means looking at every word in a sentence and interrogating if it can be cut, or if it can be replaced with something more understandable.
What I like most
Organising our International Women's Day Events
What I like least
It is a very busy job that is full time. I would much prefer to work part time
What surprised me most
That I started being one of those people who work through lunch and stay late.
Next steps...
If you like the look of Jenny’s profile, the next steps are down to you! You can send Jenny a message to find out more about their career journey.