Georgia Jones

Current Employer/Organisation Name

Swanky Agency

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

After the virtual final exams in May, I was re-employed by the ecommerce company I interned with last year, a company that I found on Exeter’s Career Zone. I initially was re-employed as an Administrator but I was promoted this week to Junior Project Manager and am fast-tracked to the full Project Manager role by the autumn.

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

I chose the e-commerce area mostly to gain experience in project management. However, in learning about project management, I became really invested in the client aspect of ecommerce – it’s not just about building websites, it’s about building a business for clients, which involves customer retention, user experience and team management. It’s an area that has experienced huge growth during COVID too, so it’s been exciting to be on the forefront of a growing industry.

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

My passion out of the office is Orienteering so in my first year I set up the Orienteering club and grew it whilst being President so that when I graduated, I handed it over to a full team committee. I also was part of Exeter’s Athletics club who were an great source of support when I was building the Orienteering club. I’ve also been part of Debating society and my course society too, both of which have been a great way to meet new friends and attend lots of balls!

Were you part of the Exeter Student Ambassador Scheme at any point during your studies?

Yes.

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

I really enjoyed every aspect of my programme. Each discipline offered new and different challenges. For politics, my favourite part was the seminars, which are essentially small classes with 10-15 students and you chew over the course material with the seminar leader and draw out ideas – that’s when I really clicked with the material. For economics, my favourite part has been a module called machine learning for economics – I’m not a computer science student so haven’t had the chance to use coding to understanding data, so this was a really eye-opening course that I felt had practical use too! For philosophy, I’ve really appreciated the the broader impact of it; it has challenged me and enriched the way I think about the world.

What did you enjoy most about studying here?

I enjoyed the complete freedom I had at Exeter in pursuing my studies, extra-curriculars and personal ambitions, such as the ecommerce internship and setting up my own club. I was able to do everything I wanted to do and felt supported by the lecturers, Athletics Union and Career Zone the whole way through.

Why did you choose to study at Exeter?

I initially chose Exeter because of its proximity to Dartmoor and its good reputation for the PPE course.

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

The most important skill I learnt at Exeter was the ability to self-motivate myself. With complete freedom comes a requirement to take responsibility for your personal and professional development. The ability to energise myself and actively look for opportunities have helped abundantly in my career so far.

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

I would advise them to keep an eye out for opportunity and focus on building your CV during university. There’s so many ways to up-skill at Exeter, from CareerZone events and workshops, working on a society committee to learning how to write essays in subject areas you’ve not dealt with before. Furthermore, Exeter has the benefit of the fact that employers come to the university actively looking to employ students. I would strongly recommend taking advantage of being part of a place so rich with opportunities and pathways.

What are your plans for the future?

My plans at the moment are to learn as much as possible within my current job about project management. Next year, I’m hoping to join the graduate scheme that has been deferred from September which is a general management rotational scheme to broaden my skillset and hopefully expose me to more opportunists to figure out where exactly I want to go!