Written by Mark James, Copywriter at Crunch Accounting as part of the Wired Sussex guest blog month.
As an aspiring English graduate, I was frequently told I’d made the wrong degree choice, most memorably by Stephen Grant - cantankerous compere at Komedia’s comedy night.
Forced to sit at the front due to our late arrival, me and a romantic interest found ourselves easy material... even more so when Grant found out what I was studying. English students and our lack of prospects made easy comic fodder and as such, as dates go, it wasn’t one of the best.
Whilst that ended badly though, I’m glad to say that post-degree things have gone well and that contrary to popular opinion it is possible to find employment as an English graduate - Brighton’s growing digital scene offering ample opportunities for those with a BA Hons to their name.
Come September, I’ll have been on the books at Crunch Accounting for a touch over twelve months, having snapped up a full-time Copywriting role here in August of last year.
During my time at the company I’ve learnt an incredible amount; cultivating copywriting skills, sharpening SEO knowledge and elsewhere, that it’s possible to take freelancing lessons off your dog. I’ve contributed heavily to Freelance Advisor and built up a comprehensive portfolio of work, Editor Jon Norris easing my transition from vitriolic football blogger to burgeoning business writer.
With good content becoming ever more important it’s been refreshing to see that there are opportunities for writers outside of the realms of traditional print media and to my mind, more emphasis on digital marketing and what it offers English students might stop graduates falling into completely irrelevant fields - that’s a debate for another time though.
Ultimately, there’s positives to take in that there’s increasing graduate opportunities outside of London and that the Sussex digital scene can provide work for those of us happier by the sea. When I first started here there was around twelve of us upstairs - there’s now treble that - reflecting that Sussex’s Silicon Beach can increasingly compete with Shoreditch’s Tech City.
With ultrafast broadband on the horizon (thanks in no small part to Wired Sussex) things can surely only get better, our growing digital sector good for graduates and local business alike.