Free careers events on being a Newspaper Journalist and on being at Press Officer

A Career Conversation… Life as a National Newspaper Journalist 

with Sarah Oliver, from the Mail on Sunday. http://www.saraholiverwriter.com/ 

Wednesday 30th January, lunchtime 1.15 – 2.15pm, LAWS Room 1.19

As a foreign news correspondent Sarah covered the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as stories across the world from Kosovo to Malawi. In more recent years she has focused on features, columns and celebrity interviews.  With Sarah we will explore what it takes to get started on a newspaper career, how a career can develop, the skills & experienced required to get a foot in the door, as well as perhaps exploring some of her most memorable career moments.  

RESERVE YOUR PLACE NOW: https://qmul.targetconnect.net/leap/event.html?id=5595&service=Careers+Service

EXPLORING A CAREER AS A PRESS OFFICER…

7^t February 6.15 – 7.45, Arts Two, 3.20

Interested in a career in Communications? Journalism? Publishing? Politics? Public Relations?  Have you considered how you could combine several of these interests by becoming a Press Officer… come and meet 3 QM alumni currently working as Press/Media officers, learn about the role, how it varies in different environments, how it will make full use of your writings skills and powers of persuasion and how to get started on this career path. 

Reserve your place here: https://qmul.targetconnect.net/leap/event.html?id=5621&service=Careers+Service

Our Guests:

• Alainna Hadjigeorgiou,  Press Officer for the Orion Publishing Group, an award winning division of Hachette UK.  (BA English/Comp.Lit 2014)
• Joshua Snape, Media Officer at the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. (BA History & Politics 2013)
• Tim Picton, Press Officer for the Labour Group of the London Assembly (BA English 2014)

What does a Press Officer do?

In Publishing “key responsibilities include liaising with the press, organising trade announcements and securing targeted and high profile media coverage for projects… this means working closely with authors, agents, journalists, freelancers and the wider publishing teams.” (Alainna)

However in Government/Politics it is more about news and the story: “At the heart of it, the job involves being able to judge what makes a good news story, how to write for a number of different audiences” (Josh) and “To succeed you need to be able to shape that story and ensure that it is either mitigated or used to the organisation’s advantage”. (Tim)

Guest Biographies:

• Alainna has worked in publishing for four years, starting out as an intern for independent publisher Profile Books, before securing her first job in the publicity team at Quercus Books and moving across to Orion in April 2018. In 2017 she was long listed for the London Book Fair Trailblazer award. She studied English at Queen Mary and graduated in 2014.
• Joshua graduated in 2013 with a BA in History & Politics and has 5 years of experience in public sector communications. Starting off working as a Communications Officer for the pharmacy regulator, he has spent the last 3 years as a government Press Officer at the Charity Commission and subsequently, the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
• Tim graduated from Queen Mary in 2014 with a degree in English Literature. He then continued studying the subject, gaining an MA in English: Issues in Modern Culture from UCL two years later. Since, he has worked as a Labour Party campaign organiser, a Parliamentary Assistant to a London Labour MP and is currently a press officer for the Labour Group of the London Assembly, based at City Hall.