Third-year BA (Hons) Media Communication Cultures student Francesca Haigh shares with us how the Media Professionals Workshop module helped her interact with media professionals and gave her an exciting internship opportunity.

Course: BA (Hons) Media Communication Cultures
Placement: Shoo Social Media

Tell us a little bit about the Media Professionals Workshop module?

The Media Professionals Workshop module is an option module choice for second year students on the BA (Hons) Media Communication Cultures course at Leeds Beckett University. It’s a great way to learn about the importance of professional working practices and meet visiting tutors who work within the industry.

In the first week of the module, we were introduced to media professionals and their industries. There were plenty of people we could work with across numerous industries. I chose to work with Rachel Hatfield and Chris Morris, founders of Shoo Social Media, as I am interested in marketing and knew that this would be an excellent opportunity to gather experience and get a taster of the marketing world.

How have you found working with the media professionals and was it what you’d expected?

I worked with Shoo Social Media as a part of the module for eight weeks. We were put into two teams and asked to produce our own campaign to increase Shoo’s brand awareness online. We had weekly sessions on campus with Shoo, who taught us about the marketing industry and various marketing techniques, key terms and software.

I was fortunate that my experience working with Shoo Social Media didn’t end after completing the Media Professionals Workshop module. Instead, Rachel and Chris offered me the opportunity to continue working with them to develop my experience further. At this point, I knew that social media marketing was my desired career and immediately recognised that this was a fantastic opportunity that couldn’t be missed.

What has been your favourite part of the experience?

My favourite part of the Media Professionals Workshop module experience was being actively involved with many different marketing activities and getting a wide range of knowledge and experience. I now manage Shoo’s social media pages with another intern and have worked on various social media campaigns. As a result of my hard work and determination and the continued support from Shoo, I now manage a team of 10 other fellow interns. I am responsible for making sure that all team members understand their roles and ensure task deadlines are met.

Despite being with Shoo Social Media for less than a year, I have already gained a considerable amount of experience in copywriting, graphic design, team leadership, day-to-day businesses running’s and the marketing world. I know that when I graduate in summer 2021, not only will I have a degree, but I will also have a substantial amount of experience that will be desirable to employers and will help me in my career.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about taking the Media Professionals Workshop module?

I advise you to take as many opportunities as possible to gain work experience and communicate with professionals. It has many advantages and you don’t know where it might take you. It helped me get a feel of the professional world and confirmed the career path I want to go into. I wouldn’t be in this position now if I hadn’t done the module, so I would highly recommend it to everyone who can take it.