"I had an amazing experience at Bangor University and I’m still best friends with a lot of the people I met there."
Year graduated: 2013
Current role: Client solutions manager at TikTok
Psychology is important for my job as you need to figure out what is driving consumer behaviours, for example, why people watch certain videos or trends, or engage with particular brands. Data analysis is also crucial for my role as I regularly analyse large data sets to find insights.
I have always seen Psychology as a gateway degree in that you learn a broad spectrum of skills from presenting, data analysis, statistics and project management, which are all very important skills for a vast majority of jobs. Having those building blocks has really set me up for success within my career.
I initially started as a digital marketing intern in Paid Search at a media agency in London. From there I stayed in the agency world till I was a Digital Director for 2 years managing a team across Paid Search, Social and Programmatic before I finally moved to Tech.
What has helped me a lot within my career was the presentation training (POPPS) and all the statistics classes we had. Previously, I had a massive fear of presenting but the presentation classes made me feel comfortable presenting a prepared presentation and also thinking on my feet with the impromptu speeches. I always get asked a variety of questions by clients, so thinking on my feet is crucial. Stats/Excel classes have helped massively as I am always analysing data sets, finding trends and also having to educate clients on statistical significance etc.
I had an amazing experience at Bangor University and I’m still best friends with a lot of the people I met there. In terms of tips for progressing within roles, I would recommend making sure you keep a document of all the great feedback or recognition you’ve had internally and from clients. You never know when you’ll get asked what you’ve done that has brought value to the business, so this is very valuable for performance reviews. Personal PR is also very important as people around you play a part in progression, so talk about your achievements, do internal presentations when offered and sign-up for projects that are outside of your job spec. Also, it took me a year to find an internship after finishing university, so be persistent!