Alumnus profile: Andy Wimbush, Communications at NEF
Print versionWhat job are you doing now?
I am Communications Officer at the New Economics Foundation, an independent think-tank which researches and campaigns on social, environmental and economic policy. It’s my job to make sure that our research gets reported by the media, so I spend a lot of my time contacting journalists and writing press releases. I also manage our website and social media.
How did you get there?
My undergraduate degree was in English Literature, but too many sleepless nights spent worrying about climate change led me to take the Master’s Degree in Environment, Politics and Globalisation in the Geography Department at King’s in 2007-8. Throughout my time at university I was involved with student campaign groups, so I had also built up some experience of designing websites, logos and posters. I applied for the job at NEF just as I was finishing my MA, and was lucky enough to be able to walk straight from handing in my dissertation to my new office. I started out part-time, and became full-time after four months.
What’s good about your job?
Working for a think-tank means that you are constantly surrounded by ideas, and as with any third sector organisation, people have a lot of passion for their work. You always keep learning in this kind of environment, and even if you don’t agree with the conclusions of each and every report, it certainly challenges you and keeps you thinking.
Of course, the real reward is turning on the radio and hearing one of our reports being discussed, or to opening the paper to find that a letter we wrote to the editor has been printed. It’s even better when policymakers start taking up our ideas, as happened recently when Lord Turner, chair of the Financial Services Authority, began advocating policies that NEF had first proposed five or six years ago.
Of course, the real reward is turning on the radio and hearing one of our reports being discussed, or to opening the paper to find that a letter we wrote to the editor has been printed. It’s even better when policymakers start taking up our ideas, as happened recently when Lord Turner, chair of the Financial Services Authority, began advocating policies that NEF had first proposed five or six years ago.
What’s not so great?
As with any charitable organisation our budgets are always tight and staff often become overstretched. Whereas big companies have enormous amounts of money to throw into the PR machine, we’re trying to do everything they do on a shoestring. There can be a great deal of pressure in the run up to the release of a major report.
Also, working with the media is a very fickle business. You can slog your guts out getting a report on the news diary only for some major event to knock you off the roster. This happened recently to a study we published which challenged the so-called ‘business case’ for expanding Heathrow Airport. As soon as I started to send out emails to the news desks, Mount Eyjafjallajökull erupted and the transport correspondents suddenly weren’t interested in anything except volcanic ash.
Also, working with the media is a very fickle business. You can slog your guts out getting a report on the news diary only for some major event to knock you off the roster. This happened recently to a study we published which challenged the so-called ‘business case’ for expanding Heathrow Airport. As soon as I started to send out emails to the news desks, Mount Eyjafjallajökull erupted and the transport correspondents suddenly weren’t interested in anything except volcanic ash.
Have you any top tips for current students?
If you can afford to do some work experience in a theatre, tThe most important thing is getting experience in the kind of organisation you want to work for, which unfortunately means doing lots of work for free. My MA had a module devoted to doing an internship, and I was able to spend a few months working for an environmental charity, which really helped when it came to applying for my current job. If you can’t get work experience, student experience is also really useful. Get involved with activists at university, write for the student paper, join all the groups you can.
Finally, being able to write well is a huge asset. Not only will it make your application form stand out from the rest, it will be very helpful when you come to working on reports, press releases and campaign materials. Unfortunately, most social scientists tend to forget that good prose matters as much as good ideas, so writing elegantly, clearly and concisely isn’t something you really learn in public policy degree courses. The best training is to read widely – newspapers, blogs, classic books, new books, reports, essays – and practise writing whenever you can.
Finally, being able to write well is a huge asset. Not only will it make your application form stand out from the rest, it will be very helpful when you come to working on reports, press releases and campaign materials. Unfortunately, most social scientists tend to forget that good prose matters as much as good ideas, so writing elegantly, clearly and concisely isn’t something you really learn in public policy degree courses. The best training is to read widely – newspapers, blogs, classic books, new books, reports, essays – and practise writing whenever you can.
