Katy Shaw

Country of origin: United Kingdom

Digital Account Manager, Code Computerlove

What attracted me to Lancaster University was the unique campus life, flexible courses and excellent reputation of the Management School. I wasn’t 100% sure I wanted to study Economics when I applied to university but the option of having three different modules in the first year was a great way to try new subjects and change degree if you wanted to. I chose Economics, Spanish and Marketing.

Even though I continued to major in Business Economics, I kept an avid interest in Marketing. During my first two years I was on the Exec for the Economics society, promoting our events around campus. Getting involved with societies like this helped me make even more friends, many of whom were international students. The cooperation of the Economics department with the Economics Society events reinforced the quality of the LUMS teaching staff.

Through the Management School I also joined the mentoring programme, where I was partnered with the MD of a marketing agency. Being able to talk to someone in the industry you want to work in is a really valuable way to gain advice before starting your career.

I chose to take an industrial placement year for my third year. The mentoring programme was one of the reasons that inspired me to work in Marketing. I was lucky enough to spend my placement year in Madrid, Spain at the Amadeus Headquarters. My role as a Marketing Trainee was working on global marketing campaigns in the Car Rental division. Although this was one of the smaller departments, it meant I got a lot more involved and got to do some really cool projects like launch a game on Facebook. I worked mostly in English, but was able to use my Spanish more and more as the year went on. I lived in a house with 10 people who only spoke Spanish, so was quickly able to become fluent.

Not long had I returned from Spain, when I headed off on the first LUSU Involve exchange to Malaysia. This was a real adventure and opened my eyes to many aspects of life, including university, in another country.  

Back in Lancaster during my final year, I worked for a local start-up with other Lancaster students. I co-created a mobile app and helped produce marketing videos, including for Lancaster University. The opportunities I had during my time at Lancaster allowed me to achieve even more than I’d imagined at university. 

After graduation, I joined a graduate scheme at a media agency called Carat (now called iProspect). My job was in Client Services, in the digital media team, working on management and strategy for clients including Topshop, Thomas Cook, Virgin Media, The Telegraph, StubHub (eBay) and Matalan.

 

Katy currently works in a digital creative agency called Code Computerlove as an Account Manager.