Alice Tait

Current Employer/Organisation Name

The Better Menopause

What have you been doing since leaving Exeter, and what are you doing now?

After graduating with a BA English degree in 2021, I joined Cancer Research UK as a Marketing Executive. I stayed at the charity for four years and within that time progressed to a Marketing Manager position and completed a Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification. I am now working at a start-up women’s health brand called The Better Menopause as a Paid Marketing Manager.

Why did you choose this career? And what do you enjoy most about your work?

Whilst at university, I completed a couple of marketing internships and worked as a Marketing Assistant at the Students’ Guild in my final year alongside my studies. From gaining this experience, I was inspired to kickstart a career in marketing and successfully secured a role at CRUK upon graduating. I love the varied nature of working in marketing, from being creative and telling inspiring stories to audiences to drive action, to analysing data, being strategic and ensuring campaign targets are achieved.

Please tell us if you were a member of any societies, groups or sports clubs?

I was a member of the English Society and Swimming Society.

What did you enjoy most about your programme and what was the biggest highlight?

I loved the diversity of courses to pick across the curriculum and the brilliant minds teaching such courses.

What did you most enjoy about studying here?

Great campus and lecturers.

Why did you choose to study at Exeter?

Due to the ranking in league tables for English the year I graduated and my experience at the open day.

What skills and experiences have been most useful for your career?

Communication has been key when managing and influencing stakeholders, as well as managing direct reports. Being analytical and having the ability to interpret data and insights is also fundamental.

My degree helped in being able to tell a story and build a strong argument which I can apply in campaign creative and messaging, but also internally, especially reporting up to senior leaders.

What advice would you give to a current student who wishes to pursue your career?

Gain as much work experience as possible and upskill yourself, especially in digital marketing. Meta and Google offer some great online courses so showing you’re proactive and have already gained key qualifications will help massively.

Upskill yourself in AI – graduate roles are declining year on year so position yourself as a expert in AI for the business.

What are your plans for the future?

Starting a role as a Paid Marketing Manager at The Better Menopause and branching outside of the charity sector.