UCLan graduate achieves job as PR & SEO Consultant at Higher Nature

After graduation, Keith moved to London and started working for a sports marketing organisation as a sales executive. This is a role he recommends any budding marketer should do early in their career.

Keith is now PR & SEO Consultant at Higher Nature where he is in charge of the activity to improve and maintain search engine ranking. This is done through the promotion of campaigns via social media and PR but it also entails a technical understanding of website performance. Talking about his role, Keith said: “It’s a full on role, as not only does it focus on brand expansion, it’s also about the more commercial side of business, looking at forecasting and ROI."

Offering advice to students looking to study at UCLan, Keith said: “Preston is a great city to study in. It’s big enough to cater to all your needs but still small enough where you’ll quickly know lots of people and feel part of the student community. Having UCLan on my CV has always proved valuable and it’s amazing how many UCLan alumni I have bumped into during my career since”.

As well as working for a company that was recognised by Richard Branson’s Virgin FastTrack Top 100 as the fastest growing events company in the UK for two consecutive years, Keith’s greatest achievement was being promoted to Marketing Manager at the age of 25 and being asked to speak in front of a room full of marketing experts at Brighton SEO in 2013. However, he is also a proud father of two boys, which is another one of his greatest achievements.

Giving advice to those looking to study marketing and those who have already graduated, Keith says: “Start your career early, even if it means little or no pay, with your local marketing agency or consultant. Ask questions at all times and get an understanding behind campaign ideas and marketing activity. This will help you apply learnings between your academic studies and practical experience. The more experience you have on your CV the better it will stand out on a prospective employer’s desk during recruitment”.

Keith was asked if his degree or experiences at UCLan has had any impact on his career or his life, Keith explained: “UCLan is always a name that is recognised by employers, in part, because of the business school. I ended up hiring a member of my team who had started studying at UCLan the year I left which was fantastic. I have had many successful meetings with organisations I was able to forge a partnership with after I discovered the decision maker was a fellow alumni.”