Neeve Lloyd

• Year of graduation: 2021
• Current job title: Head of Content
• Organisation / Company: Sherbet Donkey Media
• Industry Sector: Digital Marketing

My time at university taught me a lot of things, but mainly I think it taught me to trust the process and trust myself that I do know things and my answers are correct. Still today in my job, imposter syndrome is a problem, but university definitely encouraged me to be more definitive in my answers and trust that I do have the knowledge to support my ideas.

Largely this was encouraged through the support of my lecturers. There were times I didn’t feel equipped or intelligent enough to finish the degree, but my lecturers offered a support system I had never had before, and I think that is what kept me on track. I came from a background where no one had previously been to university, and without the support of my lecturers I don’t think I’d have graduated.

Additionally, finding a niche interest within the course made the degree so enjoyable. The course covers a wide variety of texts, genres, and themes to engage with and discuss. Once I found my area of interest, I felt incredibly proud to have written my dissertation on something I had researched myself and was deeply passionate about. I would never have discovered this interest if not for the teaching on the course.

I now work as head of content at a digital marketing agency and every skill I use daily can be attributed to my experience during the degree. My job includes citing work, formatting various written work, proofreading, editing, drafting, and writing detailed briefs. As well as writing various forms of long-from informational and creative content. My degree gave me critical editing and proofreading skills, a strong grasp on language and the confidence to express myself professionally, academically, and creatively.

Furthermore, I now have to create and present brand identity through writing. Tone of voice, language choice, and the function of a sentence all play an integral role in my job and were skills I had been taught at University of Northampton. I think university shows you all the skills, techniques, and methods you need, and it can be confusing while you’re studying. You may feel like you don’t understand. But, after graduating, I found using these skills in real-life applications only furthered my knowledge and helped me to understand things I had previously been confused about.

University helped me to become an individual who knows her interests, passions, and goals. I didn’t leave university knowing exactly what I wanted to do, but now that I am in a role that I love, I can attach a lot of that success to my foundations in the English degree.