Case studies: Partnerships and marketing executive: Angela

Angela has a degree in business studies. She spent the third year of her four-year course on placement in the business partnerships department of a university. This led to a full-time job in the department upon graduation.

I was always interested in business and how it works and so studying business at Birmingham University seemed like the obvious choice for me. I was lucky enough to secure a placement year at a university in the same city, working on business partnerships and marketing. This placement involved building relationships with new and old contacts for the university and also producing marketing materials, such as leaflets, and updating text on the website.

I really enjoyed my placement year and worked very well in the team. My boss said that after my studies they would like to offer me a permanent position. This was ideal as it meant that I knew that finishing the degree would lead to immediate employment in a job I really liked.

I think that having studied business meant I was able to speak the language of potential clients and hold my own in business conversations from the outset. I also did some internal training in the production of marketing materials and working with designers and printers.

A typical working day involves keeping in contact with key clients and researching where potential new clients can be found. I may attend a networking event to try and build relationships or I may plan a mailshot and all of the marketing materials that go along with that.

The best part of my job is meeting lots of people and finding links between what they need and what we can offer. I do get to know some of my clients very well and it is great when they come back for repeat business as I know it means I have done a good job.

The most challenging aspect of the role is juggling everything from routine administrative tasks, such as managing the budget for marketing materials and booking rooms for meetings, to getting involved in the strategy of the department.

My role has developed in that I now manage a placement student, like I was a few years ago. My ambition is to either move into the university’s marketing department as a manager in a few years' time or look for another marketing manager role in the public sector.

For any student who wants to get into marketing I think experience while you study is invaluable, either as a volunteer or working on placement. It’s a great career and it’s worth the effort to try and stand out from the crowd when applying for jobs after your degree has finished.