Bethany Watson-Keighley

Describe your current role and responsibilities.

Curating the digital home of the BBC (bbc.co.uk) with the best content that reflects the big talking points of the day. Using editorial judgement to ensure we meet the BBC’s high standards of accuracy and impartiality and are compliant with BBC editorial guidelines. Working with teams across news, sport, TV and radio to promote their content to millions of weekly users, using audience data to influence and shape our strategy. Managing coverage for events like Wimbledon, Eurovision, Children in Need, Strictly Come Dancing and more. 

Why did you decide to study Fashion Communication at Northumbria?

I appreciated the diverse mix of modules as I wasn’t sure which area of the industry I was most interested in. I was impressed at the Open Day by former students’ work and the opportunity to work on live briefs. I also felt Newcastle was a vibrant Northern city that would be a great place to spend my university years.

What are the most useful skills that Fashion Communication taught you?

Presentation skills, commercial awareness, promotional strategy, awareness of wider trends and effective research methods.

Did you get any work experience / internships while studying?

I interned with Roksanda Ilincic as a Showroom Assistant at Paris Fashion Week and for Surgery Group as a PR and Digital Assistant for 3 months in London. I also completed a month-long placement with a start-up fashion brand and a placement at marketing agency StrawberryToo in Hull. Throughout my final year I worked with the University Digital Marketing team as a Digital Content Creator.

What is the one piece of advice you would give this year’s graduates?

Try to start your career in a smaller workplace where you will get more responsibility for a variety of tasks instead of being pigeon-holed into one small task in a large organisation. And always be open-minded about where your career can go. I no longer work in the fashion industry but all of the skills I developed at university have helped me in my current role and I didn’t even know the role existed before I applied!

Describe Fashion Communication in three words:

Diverse, creative, relevant.