Kat Skeates

Communications and Marketing at CCSU

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How did your degree help you gain your current position?

Working in marketing uses I think pretty much all of the skills I learned on my degree, even media law and a bit of shorthand. Employers really value having the extra skills such as creating & editing videos and being able to write decent press releases/print-ready news articles

How valuable have you found the skills you learnt in your degree?

I use them every day, perhaps not the hard news writing but the communications skills I have now are invaluable.

What branch of journalism would you see yourself in/are in?

I'm in marketing and communications at Christ Church Students' Union at the moment but I wouldn't mind going into television or radio one day. I tried magazines and newspapers during work experience but I decided it wasn't for me, I want to be more creative in my work and marketing/communications gives me the space to do that.

What advice would you give new graduates about gaining relevant experience?

Do everything you get the chance to. Go to your local town paper and see if they'll take you on for a week or two - I did and got to interview Eddie Izzard! Community radio - or even hospital radio can be good fun too. Save all your work and start building a portfolio.

How important is the fact that the journalism degree is accredited?

It hasn't mattered to me so much as I'm not in the traditional journalism career, and I didn't really know what it meant when I joined, I just loved the course. If you are planning on going into a traditional field though, I would highly recommend going for an accredited course as then you know you're learning the best stuff from good, talented people.

What did you enjoy most about Christ Church?

Oh, everything. The course and tutors were fantastic and it was always...ok most of the time... really interesting but it's the whole university experience. Leaving home and being independent, meeting new people and making friends for life, joining societies, spending too much and living on baked beans. Everything!

Are you in touch with any former students who are also in the industry?

I am but not professionally, it's just catching up as friends. Occasionally we share jobs that have come up or some tips like using Trello (my god if I'd had that during my degree, it's a lifesaver).

Would you be happy to do workshops with some of our students?

Definitely, I'm not sure what on though...maybe social media or an intro to communications for those not doing the PR/advertising modules?

Were the practical elements of the course valuable?

Extremely. I don't think you'd get any job in the media these days without having those practical skills - on the course it gives you the space to make mistakes and learn from them, whereas you wouldn't be able to do that on the job. Like I said earlier, employers really value having those skills already. If there didn't have to be an academic dissertation, I'd make the final project bigger. A year long multimedia project on any subject that had a lot more going on and targets to reach and just big.