Alumni

Emma Nesham

Career Path: Digital Marketing Executive, Purple Creative Studio
Location: Richmond, UK

Once leaving university I decided that social media and digital marketing was the path I wanted to follow as I found the area really interesting and realised how important the area was to business and how this would grow in coming years. I joined Purple Creative Studio to grow the business' digital marketing client base and also expand our service offering for clients. During my first year I have learnt a huge amount of skills and undertaken a wide variety of tasks for clients including writing social media content and blog posts, running paid advertising campaigns, writing content for SEO, helping to manage website projects and helping clients with their marketing strategies. Due to the rural location of the company, we work with a lot of small businesses across the North Yorkshire Dales to help them get the most out of their digital marketing efforts. I have also hosted 6 two-day digital marketing workshops for over 80 local businesses and provided 1-2-1 support off the back of these to help new and small businesses raise their presence online.

What are you doing now?

Sine joining Purple I have been promoted to Digital Marketing Executive and have recently taken on an apprentice who I am now mentoring alongside client work.

What was it about Northumbria that made you decide to study here?

I chose to study at Northumbria after completing my first year of study at The University of Lincoln. I did not enjoy my first year and decided that the best option for me to ensure I came out with a degree result I would be proud of would be to transfer to a different university. I had a number of friends at Northumbria that I would visit on weekends and I always felt that the support on offer for my friends at Northumbria was great and having spent time on the campus it was a place I felt extremely comfortable in. I then attended an open day and met my course leader Jane Underhill. I explained my situation to her and she was incredibly helpful and welcoming when I mentioned the possibility of transferring. Jane was invaluable when it came to the transfer process and throughout my time at Northumbria. She is one of the most caring people I have ever met and was so supportive of everyone undertaking her course.

How connected was your course with industry?

I undertook a 12 month industrial placement with Enterprise Rent-a-Car. It was a valuable experience and it helped me to understand where I wanted my career to progress to.

What was the best thing about your course?

I really enjoyed the modules ran by David Hart. He is extremely engaging in lectures as well as providing support when needed too. The knowledge I learnt in his digital module and managing customer relationships is what sticks in my mind most and is what I draw upon in my role.

How did studying at Northumbria help you achieve your career goals/ give your career an edge?

I feel that the course was well rounded and gaining a degree from Northumbria showed that I was able to work hard in both university and on placement which stood me in good stead for securing a job after graduation.

Which skills/knowledge did you learn on your course that you use most now throughout your career?

Mainly the knowledge gained in the digital modules given the nature of my role. I also really enjoyed managing customer relationships as I do a lot of client management now.

What did you enjoy most about your time at Northumbria University?

The ability to learn things at your own pace. I like learning independently and I was able to study, work and volunteer due to the timetable I was given with days off in the week. I used this time wisely to help enrich my CV outside of university as well as to study for assignments.

What advice would you give somebody who is considering studying at Northumbria?

Make the most of your time! You have free days for a reason. Go out and have fun but always try your hardest with your university work. Try and get a balance and don't listen to how other people work, it's different for everyone so if you don't work well sat in the library for hours don't waste your time.