Theology case studies
Theology graduate, Lilly, talks about her current role, her career path from studying at Nottingham and her advice for you based on her experiences.
Lilly Koranteng, Communications and Engagement Officer, NHS
What is your current role and what does it involve?
As a communications and engagement officer, my role involves many things - from being the first point of contact within the team, managing our social media accounts and organising staff engagement activities, such as the annual Staff Awards.
My role is very broad, it crosses over between internal and external communications.
The internal side focuses on staff engagement, liaising with staff and sending out urgent messages that needs to be communicated. My role also involves an element of graphic design and curating the CEO weekly newsletter. Building your presence and relationships with staff in the Trust is vital in sharing positive news stories. I also manage our staff intranet and website and this is where you can showcase campaigns and update key and important information.
The external side of my role involves dealing with the media, for example facilitating visits with national or local media, planning for VIP visits and assisting in press enquires.
How did you become a communications and engagement officer?
Although I didn't end up doing something related to my degree specifically, there were many transferable skills I gained from my degree. For example, the ability to write - theology required a lot of essay writing but being able to articulate your arguments well is vital. This translates to writing and planning strategic objectives in the communications profession.
Another skill I learned was attention to detail - you need to look at every single detail of your work, making sure it reads well, grammatically, and being able to understand the tone of voice in your writing is essential.
One final skill is evaluation and constructive feedback. It's important to ask for feedback to help improve in the next project. There's always room for improvement in any work you do.
What advice would you give to a current students considering a career in communications?
If you're thinking about a career in communications, start building experience early - volunteer to write for your university's newsletter, manage an organisation's social media account, or find internships. I would highly recommend applying through the Careers team, they can support you and advise you if you're stuck.
It's okay if you don't know what you want to do. I've touched on this before but my journey wasn't linear. I didn't even know what communications was. It's not widely known or popular but I would like to raise it's profile and shine a light on comms in universities.
It's such a great profession if you enjoy getting your hands involved in many different things. I approached the job market by tailoring each application to my skillset and building a strong LinkedIn profile.
In a modern digital age, LinkedIn visibility is so important, staying active and having a good profile can lead to many opportunities and recruiters messaging you.
If you need any help, tips or advise on how to optimise your profile, please connect with me on LinkedIn. If you don't have a LinkedIn account yet, I would definitely create one.
And lastly, networking with industry professionals, I encourage everyone to go to career events, there are tons out there. It's so important to connect and put yourself out of your comfort zone. It's so important to seek mentorship to help grow and progress.