Georgie Rubega

Current Employer/Organisation Name

UK Parliament

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

After graduating, I worked at my local pub for a few months while I was figuring out what I wanted to do with my degree. As all my friends were working in London, I found a receptionist job at a legal dispute centre by St Pauls, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do long-term. I thought I might want to work in the Civil Service and was browsing their vacancies when a position called ‘Information Management Assistant’ in the Parliamentary Archives, based in the House of Lords, came up. It interested me as I had gained some work experience in the Heritage sector while at Exeter, and working in an archive seemed slightly adjacent! Two and a half years later, I’ve been promoted twice and am currently working as a Corporate Information Manager. My team delivers innovative, practical policies and solutions to help Parliamentary staff manage information more easily to support their work.

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

Prior to starting in Parliament, I wasn’t aware of Information/Records Management as a sector – I feel like I sort of fell into this career, but I’m very glad I did. I enjoy helping colleagues with information management issues and problem solving everyday, as well as working on big projects to promote and amend our policies. Information and data are central to the work of Parliament, so the work we do feels important and worthwhile. The Palace of Westminster is also a very unique place to work, and as staff we get lots of exciting opportunities to attend events, bring guests in for tours and contribute to the work of such an iconic institution!

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

I was Treasurer of TravelExe (the Travel society) and a member of History Society, BodySoc and EUABC (boxing).

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

I got a place in the Liberal Arts course through clearing, so I didn’t originally apply to it, but it worked out really well for me. I majored in History, and had the flexibility to choose modules in other subjects through the interdisciplinary approach. This meant I could tailor my course to what I was interested in, and took modules in French, Italian, International Relations and Politics.

I was supposed to do a year abroad but unfortunately due to the pandemic, I had to do it virtually. That was still one of the highlights though, as it was really interesting to take modules at another institution and widen my knowledge (as again, I could be very flexible in the subjects I chose).

I also enjoyed taking part in the Professional Pathways to Arts, Culture and Heritage work experience programme, where there were 2 days of training and week long internship at Powderham Castle.

What did you most enjoy about studying here?

I found there were so many different opportunities to gain useful experience at Exeter – alongside the normal degree studies, there were all the different societies and clubs to join, and it was a fun and rewarding experience being on the committee of a society in final year. There was also a lot of useful support through the Career Zone, such as the opportunity to have a mentor, participate in the Ask An Alum Scheme, go to events, etc. I also worked a hospitality role on campus which was a good way to earn money, and very flexible so you could work as much or as little as you wanted. Overall, I feel like these experiences helped me become well-rounded and were also a good experience to meet new people!

Why did you choose to study at Exeter?

A few reasons: I liked the campus and accommodation, it was highly ranked in league tables, it was far enough from home but not too far, and I liked that you had a reasonably-sized city to visit, but could also get to the beach and into the Devon countryside quickly!

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

Research and writing skills, presentation skills, and communication skills.

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

For an information management role, a lot of people do a postgrad course in this, which is a big commitment so I would recommend researching the sector and trying to get some work experience before committing to this. I haven’t done the course and it hasn’t held me back as my work looks for the course equivalent experience for roles, so it’s not always necessary.

For the public sector and/or working for Parliament, there are always roles coming up in different areas. Although the salaries are slightly lower than the private sector, there are good perks like lots of annual leave, a great pension and very flexible working (I mainly work from home and have colleagues who do compressed hours or are part time).

What are your plans for the future?

At the moment I’m happy in my current role. I’m not sure if I will stay in information management forever, but I’d like to continue working in Parliament or potentially move to the Civil Service.