The two design agencies/practitioners that I have chosen are Together Trust and Mosscare Housing Association.
Together Trust - Helen Bee1. What made you want to work with Together trust?
I've always wanted to work for a charity. I really believe in the work the charity does and think it's important to try & save them money that can be better spent looking after people who don't have help otherwise. If they used external agencies it would cost a lot more to get design work done. As much as I've enjoyed working in advertising agencies before, there were some products/companies (eg. debt consolidation/loan companies that charge a fortune) that I don't believe are ethical and don't have the interest of others in mind. I requested not to work on their projects, but it wasn't always possible. Working for a charity means every penny made gets put back into the charity & goes towards providing vital services for the children, young people and adults that we work with.
2. Do you find your job rewarding?
I love my job - it's a very small department (only 2 staff in an organisation of 650) but that means we get a huge variety of work - leaflets, website, exhibition graphics, photography, advertising, brochures and loads more too.
And again what I put in the above question - working for a charity is rewarding - especially when I get to meet the people we work with (usually when I'm taking photos).
3. Would you say that it should be compulsory for university students to have work experience before the end of their degree?
I think work experience is vital for any graduate. The working work is so different to uni or college - everything is much faster (the 6 week projects I used to get at uni I am now expected to complete in 1 or 2 days). It also helps the student get a feel for the type of place they want to work in - design jobs vary so much - agency, to in-house, creative and artwork - it's hard to know what you want to do unless you get experience.
My first job was thanks to my CV & portfolio being passed on by a company I'd previously done work experience at.
The more working or "real" experience you have the better.
4. When you are promoting/ advertising for Together trust, do you feel the pressure to get it right first time?
There is always a pressure to get it right first time - although documents virtually always get amended in some way before getting final approval.
It's vitally important to spell check everything - even if a client has written the document - there are often errors - even if it's word doing a USA spell check not UK! We recently advertised for a design assistant - I was amazed at how many applications had spelling mistakes and typos - not a good sign when part of their job is about accuracy!
5. What motivates you?
Hard to say what specifically - I guess I just enjoy my job - I've had design jobs that I hate and I honestly think it's better to earn less & enjoy what you do rather than earn more & hate the job. Enjoying what you do is great motivation!
Mosscare Housing Association - Gill Wood1) What is your career to date?
My career to date
Journalist 1981 - 1982
Marketing Assistant at North West Securities (subsidiary of the Bank of Scotland) 1982-1983
Marketing Executive at JD Williams Group (mail order firm) 1983 - 1985
Senior Lecturer in Marketing at Stockport College 1986 -1992
Marketing Manager at Bournemouth College of Art & Design 1993 1996
Marketing Manager at Manchester Care 1996-1997
Marketing Manager at Davies Arnold Cooper 1997-1998
Freelance PR Consultant & Copywriter 1998 - 2003
Marketing Director at Marketing Knowledge 2003-2004
Marketing Consultant (self-employed) 2005-2006
Business Development Manager, Volunteer Reading Help 2007-2008
Marketing Officer Mosscare Housing 2008 to present
2) What made you decide you wanted to become a Marketing Officer?
I didn't decide to work/plan to work as a Marketing Officer at Mosscare!! I started my career as a journalist but early on in my career I realised that there was better pay and conditions if I didn't work as a journalist on a newspaper butmoved into a career in Marketing. I have run my own business (Marketing Knowledge) and worked at Director level so working at Officer level is a bit of a downward spiral but I took time out to have a family and prefer to work part-time. Am now paying the price in terms of reduced salary and decision making responsibilities.
3) What motivates and frustrates you in your job?
What frustrates: no budgetary control; lack of money to do things properly; colleagues don't plan ahead and then want jobs doing at the last minute so the results are unprofessional; poor decision making & planning at strategic level; lack of commercial sense in the not for profit sector. What motivates: our business provides a necessary service to vulnerable people.
4) Do you find your job rewarding?
Bit disillusioned at the moment to be honest.
5) Who inspires you?
I am not really inspired by other people but in the past I greatly admired Mo Mowlam (Northern Ireland Secretary under Tony Blair) because she played a great part in the Northern Ireland peace process. Of the living, I quite like Bono for combination of good heart and good business brain. Am a great fan of Ryan Giggs - still fit at 36, still providing good loyal service to Man Utd and seems like a decent human being despite working in a money obsessed business.
