Steve Walsh from ‘We Jump Higher’ hosted a ‘Breakfast’ session to talk about his journey into the world of media, giving insights into the PR & Marketing industry, as well as providing students with invaluable advice on how to maximise their future potential.
Steve runs a company aimed at working across digital, design, words and film, to work with businesses and the people they interact with, with the aim of creating engaging solutions. The importance of underpinning your career aspiration with strong examples of work experience ran through Steve’s presentation. Ensuring you can evidence your passion is key but can be a tricky road to start down. Research your area of interest, ensure you communicate effectively – the art of knowing when to chase up an e-mail/when to make up a follow-up phone call can be the difference between bagging a fantastic work placement and being rejected.
Steve was keen to communicate the message that experience matters. Companies are looking for students with fantastic academic results coupled with a range of experiences designed to show off the breadth of your abilities. He also mentioned that it is important to find out what your career passion is. Not everybody has a clear idea of the career they want and sometimes, it is as important to try something new, just to see what it is really like. Steve’s brief experience of accountancy did just that. Needless to say, it assured him that a career in Finance wasn’t for him. Steve’s diligence in contacting a number of companies whilst studying at Sixth Form paid off when he was offered work experience at the offices of the Chronicle & Echo. This led to a job offer and further experience of working within a media setting.
After realising that he wanted to use his experiences to create something new, Steve set up his own company. The advice that Steve imparted this morning was timely as the Year 12 students prepare for their own work experience placements in March.
We would like to thank Steve for taking the time to visit us, to support and prepare our students for their own journeys.