IN INDUSTRY LAST UPDATED : 10 APRIL 2019
As part of their Professional Practice module BA (Hons) Digital Marketing and MA/MSc Future Media, students visited Gleeson Recruitment for the Future 2020 event, a half day mini-conference focused on their digital marketing futures.
The event was a collaboration between Birmingham City University and Gleeson Recruitment, which aimed to give students the opportunity to hear from representatives across the sector. Gleeson Recruitment are a Birmingham based recruitment agency with hundreds of connections within the marketing industry and are keen to support businesses in the area.
Future 2020 was a follow up to the Forward 2020 event hosted on campus. It was an opportunity for students to hear from industry experts from both the client and agency sides of marketing to broaden their views on career options and ask any questions they had. The line-up of speakers included:
- Simon Needle – Head of Recruitment, Spark44
- Jo Tanner – Previously Senior Marketing Manager of HSBC and Head of Marketing at Unity Trust Bank
- Jade Mansell & Abi Herbert – Account Director & graduate, WPR agency
- Claire Summerfield & Jemini Delal – Divisional Managing Director & Marketing Manager, Gleeson Recruitment
They each spoke about their retrospective companies, their experiences, campaigns they’d worked on and their own journeys within the marketing industry before taking part in a Q&A panel. Students were offered advice on how to take their next step into the industry which included: search relevant job boards, ensure your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date and active, research and join relevant recruitment agencies, gain work experience, continue with training and network, network, network.
Forward 2020 was also a great opportunity for students to network with the industry experts. Student Georgia Allard made the most of this by approaching Claire Summerfield to ask about available work opportunities and connected with her on LinkedIn. Following the event, Georgia posted a rave review of the day on the platform:
"My notebook is jam packed with insights and tips! Thank you so much to Simon Needle from Spark44 (I will insure I always know my worth within a role), Jo Tanner (I look forward to learning and developing my skills, by utilising my future colleagues’ knowledge and insights), Abi & Jade from WPR Agency (I never realised how creative PR could be, definitely something to look into) and last but not least Claire Summerfield & Jemini Dalal from Gleeson Recruitment Group (I'm working on my weird but wonderful way to approach employers)."
After seeing Georgia's positive comments about Forward 2020, Claire invited her to send in her CV which resulted in Georgia securing part-time work as a Recruitment Resourcer. Speaking about the event Georgia added: