Video transcript
BUILDING A CAREER IN PRINT & PACKAGING
Alexa: We talk a lot in our industry about nurturing the next generation and the next generation of talent in the print industry and packaging industry. You started your journey four years ago into this sector. Can you tell me a little bit about how that started, where you’ve gone from and to, and how you found that journey?
Aimee: Yes. So, I was doing my A levels, which feels like forever ago now. And AD was approaching local schools at the time in search of a junior team member who they would then nurture and develop throughout their career. So, I was approached by a careers advisor at my school with the role, applied and came for an interview, and then of course got the job. So, at first I was helping across all the accounts across the board, just supporting the different team members with admin tasks and training and developing myself in that way. Also supporting Emily, who was agency coordinator at the time, getting a feel for agency life over the years. I’ve now taken on my own accounts, working with different team members, I’ve been to industry events, formed different relationships with clients, journalists, and now a Senior Account Executive at the company.
Alexa: So, you’ve gone on quite a rapid journey into Senior Account Executive, where did it start out? So, what qualifications did you get in our sector?
Aimee: So, in my first year, I was enrolled quite quickly onto a PRCA foundation course, and obviously, as I mentioned prior to that, I was doing my A levels, so I did English, media and psychology. And English and media – my A level qualifications in that really helped with the writing side of things and understanding different perspectives with media. And I’ve now finished, well three years ago, I finished my PRCA Foundation course, which really helped me to get a feel for the industry and the kind of work I would be doing. I’ve overseen many different campaigns and different aspects of the industry, so that’s really, really helped my development. And of course, at AD, with lots of different internal training opportunities, the team has really, really helped me to develop as I’ve gone along.
Alexa: What is it you enjoy?
Aimee: I enjoy that every day is different. I don’t come into work and do the same thing every single day. For myself, I’d say a lot of what I do involves event and project management, which is something I’m very passionate about. I thrive off of the stress and the adrenaline, which some people think is strange. I really, really enjoy that side of things and running to tight deadlines and knowing that I need to get something done. And another aspect that I’d say I really enjoy is the going out, the meeting people, the building my network, which is something as being quite early on in my career still I didn’t have before, and now I’m able to talk about this network that I have.
Alexa: How do you think you’ve changed as a person?
Aimee: I think definitely I feel a lot more confident in myself. I think when I first joined, I was an outgoing person, but coming into an agency where everyone knows what they’re doing, no one else is really at that first stage in their career. I think I was quite nervous and maybe a bit more timid back then, and of course, with a lack of experience and not as much knowledge and understanding that everyone else had, I think you don’t naturally have as much confidence. And I think over the years, AD and applying myself to the different opportunities that have become available have really supported me to build that confidence and step into new things without panicking and just sort of diving in, I feel more confident to dive in at the deep end than I definitely would have four years ago.
Alexa: When you were younger, what did you imagine you might do as a career?
Aimee: I remember always when I was younger wanting to be a teacher or go into perhaps journalism. So, but you know, the people around me have always said they can imagine me in a in a job where I do all different things because I like to be kept entertained, and they know I love writing. So, the writing aspect of what we do really drew me in initially when I heard about the role. But yeah, I never really had myself down as someone that would work in a sector as niche as print and packaging, and I think there’s a lot more out there, and people really underestimate the industry. And I think that’s something I definitely have learned as I’ve kind of developed in my career and seen the print landscape, the packaging landscape, and the different opportunities that are constantly, you know, almost falling into our laps.