Alice Macfarlane
Alice's Graduate Story
Find out how studying at the University of Birmingham helped Alice achieve her career goals.
Graduation year: 2020
Degree Title(s): BA English Literature and French
Job title: Content Executive
Employer: THG - LOOKFANTASTIC
During my third year at Birmingham, I was the digital editor of the Comment section at Redbrick. This role taught me so much about journalism and leading a team. The experience was invaluable not only for my writing ability, but also for securing further opportunities in the industry.
Alice Macfarlane, BA English Literature and French, 2020
What does your role involve? As a content executive in the beauty industry, my day to day role is extremely varied! My role encompasses all areas of content including journalism for our digital magazine, copywriting for our website, creating social media content, directing campaign videos in the studio, running the contents of the app discover page, writing for the blog and much more. Since joining LOOKFANTASTIC, I have interviewed celebs, attended press events and directed video campaigns. The role has given me the chance to be creative and challenge myself!
Can you describe the journey you went on to get this role? Having graduated during the Covid-19 pandemic, finding a job was extremely difficult. I spent months sending in applications to a huge amount of companies with no luck. I had even sent multiple applications to THG itself and heard nothing back. Eventually though, I sent off a video application for the THG Marketing & Trading training programme where I showcased my passion and skills, and this lead to me being chosen for the role. The journey to getting this job taught me a lot about rejection, and showed how important it is to never give up!
What do you enjoy most about your job? I absolutely love how varied my role is! It gives me the opportunity to try so many different things, the chance to push my creativity, lead on projects and challenge myself. Content marketing is such a diverse role, and enables you to explore all sorts of avenues to discover what you love most - the sky is the limit!
How did your time at Birmingham help prepare you for this role? During my third year at Birmingham, I was the digital editor of the Comment section at Redbrick. This role taught me so much about journalism and leading a team. The experience was invaluable not only for my writing ability, but also for securing further opportunities in the industry. I undertook two internships during my time at Birmingham at The Guardian Newspaper and Grazia Magazine, both of which really helped to give clarity on what I wanted from a career, and the steps I could take to get there.
What advice would you give to students interested in getting into your industry or role? My main pieces of advice are firstly to never give up. As cliché as it is, it took multiple applications to the same company for me to even get my foot in the door. You’ll likely face lots of rejection, but that doesn’t mean your time won’t come! Secondly, I would say to always push yourself and your creativity. No idea is a bad idea! Your role is only ever going to be what you make of it, and whilst my company facilitates lots of opportunities, many of the things I have done came from me using my own initiative. My role has become so varied because I have pushed it to be that way, by suggesting ideas and actively seeking out opportunities. The more you put in, the more you get back.
How did the University of Birmingham help you on your career path? I often used the career services during my time at Birmingham / when I graduated. The career service is what helped me perfect the dreaded ‘cover letter technique’ which landed me my internship at the Guardian. I then continued to use this format to apply to other internships (Grazia Magazine) and eventually for job applications.
How did studying at Birmingham inspire you in your graduate path? I explored lots of different avenues career-wise whilst at Birmingham, and always attended the career fairs to see what kinds of opportunities were out there. I had never really considered working in marketing until I signed up to a career presentation from a company called IPG Mediabrands that was available through the Careers network. This session is what really inspired me to combine my passion for writing and journalism, with marketing, and I haven’t looked back since!
Why should someone considering their university options come and study with us at Birmingham? Birmingham gave me so many opportunities during my time there. From my year abroad spent in Toulouse (fondly remembered as the best year of my life!), to getting involved with societies like Redbrick and BUDS (Dance society), I have endless memories of the things I got to do there. I feel like my years at Birmingham really rounded me as a person, and helped me to figure out what I was really passionate about.
What was your favourite thing about studying at the University of Birmingham? One of my favourite things was probably how much they pushed the year abroad initiative. Myself and so many others had the chance to explore a new culture, challenge ourselves, make new friends and generally have an amazing experience as part of our degree. Having the chance to study abroad was invaluable not only for my language skills, but socially. It gave me some incredible memories and I’m so thankful that Birmingham enabled me to do something so special!