I Got Hired: Marketing Assistant in UoL Law School

Posted on: 1 July 2022 by Samantha Riella in Graduate stories

Emma Elkington, a University of Liverpool undergraduate and postgraduate alumni, is now working as a Marketing, Events and Recruitment Assistant in the School of Law and Social Justice.

Emma tells us more about her degree, her year abroad and the transferable skills she has learnt along the way that have helped her transition into the workplace.

What made you want to study your degree?

Learning a language was something I really wanted to do at University, so I was excited to find out this was something I could do in first year. Coming from a Spanish speaking family, the obvious choice would have been Italian or French, but it came to much shock to all when I chose Chinese as the language I would like to pick up whilst at university. It was certainly a challenge, one that required many hours of memorising characters and tones every week, but I loved it. As a small class, we managed to all bond really well, and we had an excellent teacher in our first year who really brought the language to life.

How did you get involved in travelling and studying abroad?

At the end of first year, we were given the chance to go on a free Summer camp trip to Beijing and Xi’an for 2 weeks. I remember how I felt when I first found out, it was a mixture of excitement and also stress. I had never travelled so far before in my life, and it didn’t help that I have a strong fear of flying! But I made the decision to go along with my class and I created some of the best memories of my life. Then in my third year, I did the Year in China. This year proved to be as good as the Summer camp, and I really grew into someone with much more of an idea of what they wanted to do in life. After these experiences, I knew I wanted to eventually help students enrich their studies.

What made you decide to progress to postgraduate?

Deciding on what to do after my BA, I was torn between teaching English and working in International Marketing. I loved my English Literature modules, and when lockdown hit, instead of stressing about University, these modules gave me some solace and enjoyment from the outside world. I did English Literature as my masters to keep my options open and develop upon my skills so I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Whilst studying my postgraduate degree, I gained experience from the English Language Centre at University, teaching English to small groups of International Students. It was here that my boss suggested I look into working at the University.

What are you currently doing after graduating?

I now work as a Marketing, Events and Recruitment Assistant at the School of Law and Social Justice, and I love how it embodies the skills I wished to expand on in my final years of study. Here, I am still part of a lovely community of learning, and developing upon skills such as planning, editing, and adaptability that I learnt throughout my degrees. I hope to continue helping students and updating them on the exciting things University has to offer, whilst improving their experiences.

What do you enjoy most about your graduate role?

I have really enjoyed working on conferences and talks held by the School of Law and Social Justice. Most recently, I have worked on planning a conference on Policing Domestic Abuse: Covid to Violence Against Women and Girls. For this event we had people arrive from all over the country and from Korea, so our role was to plan their accommodation and where the conference would be held. During this two-day event, I took photographs and notes on the events, which I used to then write up a blog post for our website and update our socials. By doing this, we hope to encourage more students and academics to take part in university-led activities and in-person events, something that during the lockdown years we have missed doing!

*From prominent guest speakers to international conferences and research seminars, The School of Law and Social Justice has a rich and varied events calendar. You can visit their event page and twitter for more details.