For the seventh instalment of our guest blog month Sophie Coley highlights her Brighton career so far since starting out just a couple of years ago.
Throughout my time at university in Bournemouth, I tried to force myself to get used to the idea that one day, I’d have to pack up my worldly possessions and head to the big smoke to get a ‘proper’ job, rather than returning home to the city I loved: Brighton. It’s not that I don’t like London, but having done several stints of work experience in the capital, I knew that hot, stuffy, tube journeys and scarily-high rental prices for grotty bedsits were not things I wanted to get used to.
So, I was pretty pleased when I got an internship via WiredSussex when they were running their Sussex Internship Programme, with then-Hove-based SEO agency Propellernet; low and behold, I’d found a local marketing agency who worked with big brand clients such as Hi-Tec, Furniture Village and TUI! I was even happier when my hard work paid off and the internship turned into a full time position.
Almost two years’ later, Propellernet has moved to lovely new offices in the middle of Brighton (my bank balance loves it less than I do!) and I’m regularly coming up with creative online marketing solutions for even more exciting clients, such as Westfield Stratford and M&S. I’ve also bagged myself a promotion, going from a junior to a mid-range search consultant, and my team has won some impressive industry awards. I genuinely believe that I have as good as a career as I would have had if I’d gone to London- if not better. The agency has grown and grown in my time here, and there are now about 30 full-time staff members; just enough to win us some great accounts, but not so many that no-one knows each others’ names and you’re just another cog in the wheel. What’s more, I’m home by 6.30pm each night, which means I can get my regular soap fix and still see friends and family.
A huge highlight of my career-to-date here, was when I secured coverage for Propellernet on the BBC 10 o’clock news. The editor wanted to do a piece highlighting the thriving entrepreneurial spirit in Brighton and how it was a great, buzzy place to work, particularly in the recession. I used my newly-developed PR skills to charm him into coming to see our offices and he was as impressed with the agency as I was.
There’s a little part of me that still wonders if one day, I’ll have to get a job in London in order to further my career, but for now, I’m happy to be working on lovely clients, in a job I love, in a city I love… it will take a lot to tempt me away!