Gemma studies Media Studies and is working for a housing association in Portsmouth
Filming and editing videos, writing, social media and graphics are all part of the Communication Coordinator’s job at Vivid Housing. Media Studies student, Gemma, talks about working in the communications team for Vivid, a not-for-profit employer in Portsmouth. She also tells us what working during a pandemic taught her about herself.
Who did you work for?
I got the role of Communications Coordinator at Vivid, Hampshire’s largest provider of affordable homes and What House? Housing Association of the year. This which demonstrates the organisation’s scale and dominance within the housing industry, with approximately 1,000 employees.
Tell us about your role
As Communications Coordinator I worked closely with the Communications Team to promote work happening throughout the business to internal and external audiences. This required a number of responsibilities to help manage and maintain the reputation of the organisation. These included:
- creating graphics and infographics for the social channels and office TV screens
- managing the TV screens
- monitoring press coverage and creating a monthly report
- writing case studies for the intranet and news articles for the website
- uploading and refreshing content on the internal and external channels
- filming and editing videos
- helping to design award entry documents
- liaising with suppliers about new or existing contracts
This was an excellent opportunity to learn about businesses, covering brand guidelines, tone of voice and other policies. I was able to learn about the housing industry from shadowing the land and planning manager on site visits, attending events such as the housing forum and leadership forum. In team meetings or discussions, I learnt about the developments and how they would be communicated to customers, staff and stakeholders.
Through carrying out everyday tasks within my role, I’ve significantly improved my critical thinking, problem solving, writing, creativity, innovation and interpersonal skills. These are all essential skills for a career within the media industry.
Graphic created by Gemma
Working during a pandemic
I am most grateful to have had this opportunity for self-development and never expected I would complete my placement working from home as a result of the pandemic. This highlighted the importance and hard work of the Communications Team in keeping customers, staff, and stakeholders up to date with messages. The pandemic made me recognise my ability to adapt to change and motivate myself to work efficiently from my home environment.
Placement highlights
The highlight of my placement was working for a not-for-profit organisation which is compassionate about the well-being of all their audiences, making people aware of relevant social issues, educating their audiences and attempting to reduce stigmatisation.
The nature of the organisation made it a very rewarding place to work, seeing how we were making a difference in our customers lives.
I particularly enjoyed helping to plan, film and edit “A Day in the Life of…” series, which focused on employees carrying out their everyday roles and talking about it.
How has your placement affected your future career plans?
The thought of graduating from University and starting a career used to be daunting to me as I wasn’t certain of a career path. But this opportunity has helped me to understand more about my strengths and weaknesses, making clear what type of career I would like to pursue in the future.
I also gained the ability to network and I’ve improved my graduate job prospects. The experience and knowledge of the industry that I now have means I’m confident in my skill set when applying for jobs in future.
Interested in this placement?
If you’re a 2nd year student, look out for this placement being advertised later on in the academic year.