Student trades hospitality for a fresh start in marketing
A Glasgow Caledonian student has reflected on her decision to enter the world of higher education after 20 years working in the hospitality sector.
Third year direct-entry student Arlene Lewis had previously completed an HND in communications before working in a number of restaurants and bars over the last two decades. However, it was life away from the day job that proved to be the catalyst for a change in career.
She explained: “I was doing a lot of triathlons and I got involved with a triathlon coaching company. Given my HND, I sort of offered to do their social media, which turned into me winging it basically! I quickly realised that I was a bit out my depth and needed to develop my knowledge further.
“I found the NQ at City of Glasgow College, which was a six month course starting in January 2020. I realised I could do it while working part-time, but halfway through lockdown happened. The restaurant I was working at then furloughed me and I just felt it would be good to get something from the chaos!”
Arlene’s positive attitude helped stand her in good stead, despite the challenges of the pandemic.
She said: “I would be lying if I said I didn’t find the pandemic hard. It was really difficult because I’m so used to being with people through working in hospitality. I don’t have loads of close friends because I was working around others all the time and value my own space. However, everything flipped with covid - all of a sudden I had too much of my own space and not enough human connection.”
Online lectures began to consume Arlene’s life, becoming one of the few constants in an ever-changing world. Thankfully, this proved to be a benefit and led to the next step in her career journey.
She explained: “I just threw myself into the course. I made sure I was at every class and I was noting down everything that was said. The thing that helped me was the fact the lecturers at the City of Glasgow College were amazing and I just really enjoyed what they were talking about.
“I was then about halfway through second year and they started to tell us about the option of completing a University degree through direct entry to third year – that was the seed planted!”
Arlene decided to apply to Glasgow Caledonian last year and was accepted onto the BA (Hons) International Marketing programme. Her enthusiasm and desire to better herself as a professional quickly followed her from one educational institution to another.
She said: “During Freshers’ Week, I went to a talk with a lady at The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and she mentioned the opportunity to work as a Student Ambassador. It was perfect for me because it would help me gain experience within the industry while I studied.
“There are so many jobs in social media and a huge amount of people have experience in it, but I knew I wasn’t going to University to just run a social media account. I wanted a bit of credibility across all forms of marketing and felt this opportunity would help me become respected by future employers.”
CIM is a leading professional body for marketers around the world, with more than 30,000 members. The Student Ambassador role aims to develop future professionals and offer them the chance to gain new qualifications, helping to ease the transition from University into the world of work.
Arlene said: “CIM have their own Marketing Club and basically organise monthly webinars on different subjects, like Metaverse and copywriting.
“The CIM Marketing Club is completely free to everyone and the webinars are held on the first or second Wednesday of the month. Our job is just to put together posts and get it out across the University. It’s basically just a way of letting students know there is another opportunity to develop their knowledge outside their actual course.”
Arlene has been managing to balance her new role alongside her coursework. She is well aware that there are still plenty of essays and deadlines before graduation comes around, but she’s still been taking the time to dream of her new career, while also looking back fondly at her past.
“I hope even just having this Student Ambassador role on my LinkedIn will give me a bit of an edge and show how serious I am about working in the industry.
“I must admit, it’s been a crazy couple of years. It didn’t ever really bother me that I didn’t have a degree, but then when the situation arises you’ve just got to go for it.
“Working in hospitality for all those years was fun but I knew I didn’t want to work irregular hours and long nights forever. Life is a journey and it’s important to keep it interesting.”
By Ross Clark
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