Wilson Kwong
I really enjoyed the opportunities we had to work on campaigns with real clients.
Why I chose UTS
Though I never knew exactly what I wanted to do, I knew that I wanted to do something related to the media. Once I knew that I wanted to be part of the Communications industry, UTS was always my first choice because I had heard that it had the best reputation in this area. It just made so much sense – it was right in the heart of the city next to the ABC and so many of the lecturers and tutors looked like they actually had real practical experience in the industry.
Over the course, I really enjoyed the opportunities we had to work on campaigns with real clients – it made it feel less like another assignment and more like actual preparation for the workforce.
Beyond the skills that I learned in my course that helped prepare me for my career, I actually think I learned a lot of valuable lessons outside the classroom too. At UTS, there are lots of great extracurricular opportunities like clubs, volunteering and sports teams. Getting involved with these really helped me develop my soft skills like leadership, teamwork and communication – all of which are vital in my industry. In fact, managing my club’s social media presence was my first taste of what would eventually become my career!
What I enjoyed most about my degree was the diversity of experiences on offer. even though I studied the Public Relations stream, my subjects allowed me to branch out and explore my interests in advertising, UX and app design. I think that this is especially important for people in my career, because you’ve got to be able to adapt to a lot of different roles, so the broader your skillset, the easier it will be. For example, I started out in Public Relations, but now work in Advertising – and in five years I might be somewhere else again! That flexibility is what I love about this industry – it helps keeps things interesting!
Finding a job after university
While studying, I interned at an independent PR company called Magnum & Co. I found out about the opportunity through my involvement with BUiLD Student Society (a student leadership club at UTS). I was organising student volunteers for the Optus RockCorps program, and met their PR manager through that experience. I later followed up with her about internship opportunities and she was able to connect me with Magnum & Co.That was a great experience because it gave me a chance to put the skills I was learning into practice. I also juggled another job with UTS Marketing managing the university’s social media presence – getting to share memes and banter with students on the UTS Facebook page was definitely a highlight!
When I graduated, I started working full-time with Magnum & Co., before I was approached for my current role at Ogilvy.
To be honest, I didn’t really know exactly what I wanted to do when I left UTS – but I think that’s okay. I used to freak out that I didn’t have much of a plan for my future, but then I realised that it not many people do, and it doesn’t matter anyway. Right now, I’m just taking the opportunities as they come and as long as I’m challenged and constantly learning, I’m happy.
Working as a Social Media Community Manager (Ogilvy Australia)
On a typical day, the first thing I do in the morning is to do a check of all our clients’ social media communities. This involves responding to any questions, complaints, and feedback, and actioning anything that requires further attention.
We might then jump on a call with the client to discuss the day’s news and trending conversations, to figure out if there’s anything relevant to us that we want to talk about. From there though, it’s pretty much anything goes because the great thing about working in marketing is that no two days are ever the same!
On some days, I might be out on a shoot, which means travelling off-site and liaising with our talent, suppliers and clients to get everything we need. Other times, I might be at my desk editing all the content that we’ve shot so that it’s ready to be shared on our client’s social media feeds, or just jumping in a brainstorm to come up with new campaign ideas and concepts.
My advice to UTS students
Get involved with extracurricular activities beyond the classroom and diversify your skills as much as possible. Landing that first job can be tough because it’s pretty competitive, and I found that having all those experiences and skills under my belt really gave me an edge and helped me stand out.
Besides, getting involved in extracurriculars makes your UTS experience so much better (in my opinion!), so it’s a win-win!
