Vicky is a Communications Officer at the Regulator of Social Housing and now has the CIPR Specialist Diploma – Digital Communications in her armoury of skills.
Why did you choose to study this qualification?
Despite taking many training courses throughout my career, I have not done any formal qualifications since doing my degree and journalism training over 20 years ago! I thought having a professional qualification in Digital Communications would be great to bring together the knowledge and skills I have learned over the years and show how I have developed personally. Digital is a rapidly growing area of comms and a very important part of my job now. It wasn’t really a big thing when I started, so I had never done any qualifications in digital communications.
What did you discover about yourself in the process?
I did find it hard to do a qualification alongside everything else I have going on, but I am so proud that I managed to do it. It shows me that I can be determined and achieve what I want if I put my mind to it.
Has studying with nesma helped you in your career yet?
I have learned new skills that I can use in my job, and I hope having the qualification will help me move on to the next step in my career.
What did you enjoy most about the studying process?
I had not done anything academically for a long time, so getting back into a learning mindset was quite difficult. I have never been very fond of studying, so it wasn’t easy, but I found that how the course was delivered and assessed enabled me to fit it around my work, family life, and other commitments. I don’t think I could have done it in any other way.
What type of things do you do differently now?
I think the course probably helped me to evaluate my digital comms I do more – so it’s not just about knowing what to do and getting on with it, but to think more about why I am doing it, who for and how I can do it better. So, it has given me more insight and analytical thinking.
What words of advice would you give anyone considering a career in PR/Comms?
This is a difficult one because there are so many fields and paths to PR and communications. I personally came from journalism. It is a good area to work in because it is so varied, and you can choose to do something with quite a wide remit or something more specialized. I think, though, that it is better to get a good grounding of comms as a whole before limiting yourself to one area.
What are the significant changes within your industry at present?
In the social housing sector, there are a lot of big changes ahead because of the new Social Housing (Regulation) Act – this will have a big impact both for my organisation and the sector as a whole. The Regulator of Social Housing will have new powers with a bigger focus on consumer regulation, which means we will need to communicate better with tenants and ensure that housing providers do the same.
What do you enjoy most when you aren’t doing the day job?
I also have a part-time role as a casual customer experience assistant at a local theatre, which I do on evenings and weekends. I love getting out and meeting people, but it also means I get to see a wide variety of theatre shows that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to.
Whether you are a generalist PR professional who wishes to develop an understanding of the discipline or specialise in digital communications, the CIPR Specialist Diploma – Digital Communications is a postgraduate qualification that will help you enhance your knowledge, understanding and practical application of digital communications.
