Well, I guess I'm a lecturer then!

This week is a big week for me, as I bid farewell to?The Manchester Metropolitan University… to start a brand new academic career at?The University of Salford?as Lecturer in Digital Video Production and Marketing. After 15 years as a content marketing professional, this might seem like a gear change, but those who know me well will tell you this is something I’ve wanted for many years… even if for quite a few of those years I had no idea how to make it happen.

As a Film & Media BA alumnus I stayed close to Manchester Met after graduating, returning as a guest lecturer in 2013 and getting heavily involved with the Unit X and Industry modules in the years that followed. I’ll always remember how terrifying those first lectures and seminars were, but also how much I enjoyed seeing students react to a brief, workshop ideas, develop their own content and present it all back. But even back then, I was asking myself: ‘Could I actually just like,?be?a lecturer?’ though the answer I’d often quickly arrive at was ‘Nah… they probably wouldn’t have me…’

Nevertheless, I carried on being involved with teaching. I had an open-minded employer (oh hi?Wavemaker UK!) who could see how good it was for me in terms of personal development, but also that having access to a room full of fresh young media student brains to tap into was valuable to them too. I went from Copywriter to Content Manager to Head of Content, stopping at SEO, social media, design, brand, animation and eventually video production along the way. I worked with clients big and small, at agencies big and small… and put that experience back into what teaching I could do at MMU in my spare time.

In 2016, I returned to Manchester Met professionally as Head of Content. I wasn’t chasing any long-term pathway to teaching (at least, not consciously), I was just genuinely thrilled to ‘come home’ to the University and dedicate myself to a brand I believed in. There wasn’t any appetite for me to work with media students on behalf of the department, let alone for personal development, so I carried on quietly doing it in my own time. Being Head of Content kept me busy, but I lectured on the BA when I could, and dipped my toe into research as an independent scholar, delivering my first paper in 2019 thanks to the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies.?

As I’m sure it did for a lot of people, the pandemic put long-term career aspirations on hold. As a team, we were forced to react quickly and proactively to the challenges of filmmaking in an age of lockdowns, mask-wearing and social distancing, a world where more video was required but there was far less to point a camera at. I’m proud of what we managed to get done under those trying circumstances, and for what practical and creative skills it brought out in us all in the meantime. It wasn’t always fun and I don’t believe we all came out of it completely unscathed, but to my mind, there were plenty of people out there who were having it a lot worse in their careers and lives, and in much tougher frontline jobs than I or my marketing colleagues will likely ever know.?

Then last summer, with the end of the pandemic in sight, I was told over a surprise 9am Teams call that there were changes ahead. My existing role would be “disestablished”, but I was welcome to apply for one of the two roles that would exist in its place if I wanted. I’ll leave you to work out how hearing those words felt, but it’s fair to say I went through a range of emotions. I’m happy to say the feeling I eventually settled on though, was motivated. I took the role I knew I could do in my sleep and revisited my longer-term aspirations. I hit my teaching studies hard and started seeking out advice from colleagues who had made the transition from a professional career to academia, as well as those already in the kind of role I wanted. Turns out I?could actually ‘just?be?a lecturer’… and there was a good chance there was a university out there who might be happy to have me.

As luck would have it, when the right role came up, I was ready for it. As well as being halfway through a PGCert and a PGDip in Higher Education, I was in the middle of writing an academic paper and had been revisiting and collating all my professional and teaching experience, giving it one home in an online CV that I could quickly refer people to. Buoyed by the academic colleagues I'd spoken to, who had highlighted the value of my experience in a modern educational environment, I suddenly found myself brimming with enthusiasm and excitement about what the future might hold for me. It was a feeling I hadn’t experienced for some time.

Despite the niggling sense of imposter syndrome I had buried in the back of my brain, I guess all of the aforementioned good stuff came out in the interview… because yeah, I’m a lecturer. And I can’t believe I get to say that. This is going to be a massive change, I’m under no illusions. But I couldn’t be more thrilled that I’ve been given this opportunity and I intend to grab it with both hands. My new colleagues have been really supportive already and I can’t wait to get stuck right into what promises to be an exciting few months.

So apologies for the long post, but it’s not every day you get to make such a significant career announcement. I have to say a massive thank you to the aforementioned colleagues for their support, but in particular to Dr Emily Brick who has been supporting my career in her role as both a teacher and, in more recent years, a mentor for almost two decades now.

As you might expect, I am celebrating the transition to 'inspirational educator' by watching as many movies about teachers as I can. Hopefully with a dash of Jack Black and a pinch of Robin Williams, I'll be turning out the next generation of bright young digital marketers and videographers in no time at all.