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Communications and Marketing Manager
Charlotte Choudhry, Communications and Marketing Manager, Faculty of Mathematical & Physical Sciences
A large part of my role definitely falls under the Web Content Management job family, however, the other job families are also relevant to my current position. A typical day can involve anything from discussing UCL academics’ roles in the latest NASA space mission, to writing marketing plans and creating campaigns across digital platforms to help us achieve our student recruitment targets.
All of these elements require a strong web presence; a marketing campaign will only be as strong as the landing page that you select. It is imperative that departmental websites are attractive and user-friendly as well as being adapted for SEO. I’ve recently completed the CIM Diploma in Professional Marketing and this has helped underline the importance of having a strong understanding of web-based technologies.
I started at UCL as an Administrative Coordinator in a department eight years ago and got involved with additional projects such as digitising UCL Academic Regulations, migrating websites and teaching myself CSS coding as I transitioned from administration into digital communications and then to marcomms. Working at departmental level really helped give me insight into the student experience, which was invaluable when I started web content management. I was awarded a Faculty-funded scholarship for external courses in web content management and digital marketing, and this, along with attending and contributing to UCL Web Standards and other groups, helped me to progress to my current role.
My experience in the Faculty enabled me put a business case together for my CIM Diploma in Professional Marketing. This, complemented by my existing expertise in web content management, further honed my skills in strategic marketing, allowing me to the opportunity to expand and build upon my current skillset.
I would give the following advice to anyone looking to follow a similar path: make the most of any training opportunities that come your way. Mixing with others who work in the similar roles in different sectors was really interesting and I learnt a lot from that interaction alone. If you are unable to commit to part-time study, then attending conferences or joining an industry recognised group and going along to their workshops or socialising events can be really eye-opening.