Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

I co-ordinate the social media profiles for a wildlife vet within the organisation who has a public following in South Africa and globally. I curate the social media to be a source of information for the public on the goings on in the world of conservation and more specifically rhinos. I also share what our wildlife vets are doing on the ground. The aim of using social media is to educate the public and motivate them to become involved in the cause and to put pressure on their governments and the private sector to help save the rhino.
I also work on creative aspects of awareness campaigns and projects to collaborate with other organisations and celebrities.

A typical day will start with me checking email and then moving on to check the social media pages. I will generally be checking to see if we have been tagged in posts by other people and the response to the previous day's posts.
I will then go through the social media pages of certain other organisations and media outlets to look for events/news concerning conservation. I also check on the pages of a few other organisations that we are affiliated with and will share certain stories from them.
After this I will check google alerts for articles and read through the results to find stories which align with our message and which I will share. I tend to share 3-4 posts throughout the day.
I also check through past posts that have reached a particularly large audience to see who has shared/engaged with our content. Through this research I can see what is working to engage our audience as well as finding other organisations to collaborate with.

I spend most days working in the office but I also go out to spend a few days with our vet team on various game reserves. Whilst there I film/photograph veterinary procedures, such as relocation of animals, medical treatments and rhino procedures. This creates original content for the social media pages and helps to engage the public with the action on the front line of wildlife veterinary work and anti-poaching work.

I enjoy knowing that I am working in a sector that is fighting for a cause. It is a job that can vary greatly from day to day and being able to engage with the wildlife that I'm working to save is a truly humbling experience.

The amount of content that I have to sift through can mount up and this can take a long time. There is also the consideration of choosing articles to share on behalf of another person/organisation. Rhino poaching is a very emotive topic and people become very passionate when discussing it, so I have to ensure that I only share posts that reflect the views of the organisation. It can also be disheartening working in conservation, as it can feel like a losing battle at times, especially with the inhumane way these rhinos are poached. It can be difficult some days to read through more and more reports of rhino poachings and failed convictions of poachers.

I have always had a passion for wildlife and conservation, but I never had an aptitude for science, so becoming a vet or conservationist weren't really options. But I had always been good with the written word and the more creative side of things. Then when I was about 16 I did an internship in the press department of Great Ormond Street Hospital. This showed me that I could unite my desire to work in the charity sector with my skills in writing and creativity.

I use my undergraduate degree in English Literature to write posts that I feel will engage the public and motivate them to act on behalf of our cause, whilst also discussing the complex issue of rhino poaching in a clear and concise manner.
My MA in Media and Communications allows me to be more selective when choosing articles to share from other sources.
A knowledge of social media learnt over years of personal use has allowed me to fine tune our online approach to ensure that our pages attract as many followers/friends as possible to allow our message to be heard by as large an audience as possible.

2013-2014 MA Media & Communications, Goldsmiths
Summer 2014 volunteering at Save the Rhino International, London
2014-2015 time off and part time paralegal work
2016- present social media coordinator for African Rhino Conservation Collaboration

I see myself still working in the conservation sector, most likely still specialising in African wildlife and especially rhinos and elephants.

I would say that to work in the charity sector you need to be prepared to spend time volunteering. The sector doesn't tend to have much spare money for paid internships, so volunteering is key to gain experience and create connections that should help later when looking for paid positions.
I would also say that initiative is key in this sector, both my current position and my placement with Save the Rhino came from me contacting the organisations and telling them my skills and experience and what I could offer their organisations. Neither positions existed before I spoke to the organisations and only came about through my approaching the organisations.
So essentially if you don't ask, you don't get.