So many of my friends had it all figured out - some aspired to be teachers, others always knew they wanted to be a doctor or a vet. But if the most you'd dreamed of was being a dolphin trainer at Seaworld - how are you meant to seriously know the right career path for you?!
I started with thinking about which topics I enjoyed at school. For me, English lessons were always the ones where I felt the most energised. I loved writing stories and reading classic books. If like me, you found English a top subject then a career in internal communications could be for you.
Once I'd determined that I really enjoyed English, I then started to look at the next stepping stones. For me that was which A-Level subjects and degrees would be complementary to studying English and which jobs I could do that these subjects would prep me well for.
So, I ended up taking English at A-Level, alongside Business Studies and Communications Studies. The latter was still quite new at that stage (back in 2002!) and I really enjoyed the variety of studying all elements of communications. I enjoyed it so much in fact, that when I was researching degrees, I found a Communications Studies course at Sheffield Hallam University which I can't recommend highly enough.
After university I "fell into" a job in marketing for a lingerie company. It was amazing getting to attend glamorous photoshoots and fancy events. After a few years the company I was working for went bust and I ended up moving back down south to live with my mum and dad. I was gutted that my "glamorous" career had come to an end so soon. Nevertheless - I'm a big believer in fate and a few months down the line I'd started a job in communications at a waste management company.
I wasn't really sure what to expect both working in communications and working in waste -which was certainly a far cry away from the glamorous photoshoots I'd been used to. But what I found was something so much better! Having a job with a real purpose - helping communicate internally, and with other stakeholders, the importance of recycling. I quickly progressed in my career and ended up leading communications for an international merger.
I also managed to squeeze in studying for a Masters in Internal Communications Management. I loved the feeling of learning new things and working together with peers on various tasks. The experience was certainly stressful alongside a full-time job but so incredibly rewarding.
For the last year I've been working for leading UK sustainable waste management company, Biffa. You may have seen our red bins and red trucks dotted around the country collecting waste! Every day brings something new - from organising large-scale company events, to writing for our internal newspaper, to devising our internal communications strategy and improving our channels. There is so much variety and so much opportunity to make a difference.
I work alongside a brilliant team of supportive leaders and passionate colleagues. Most of my team don't have an internal communications background - one studied journalism, one didn't go to university at all and one had a previous career in finance. It really does go to show that there are so many transferable skills to work in internal communications and it really doesn't matter where you started.
So, I hope you can see from reading my little story that choosing a career in internal communications could really be for you.
And that is why #IChoseIC
