Learning more

One of my three things for 2013 was to trust my instinct. I’ve been freelancing in Bournemouth for a little over two years now and as a qualified professional with lots of different experience from my employed work across public and private sectors I’ve been able to attract some exciting work and interesting clients. But I wanted to give my business and myself some focus – a direction for my career. I’ve felt for a little while I wanted to add a specialism to my skills and that I wanted to return to some study to get a deeper knowledge.

It’s funny how life points you in the right direction sometimes. Back in April 2012 I was approached by Kevin Ruck and Mark Applin to work with the internal communication sectoral group of the CIPR, CIPR Inside.

It’s been a brilliant experience for many reasons. I’ve been working with and met some brilliant communications professionals. And I have worked on and continue to deliver some really exciting projects (I’ll write about one of those very soon). I’ve helped to build the group’s online presence, doubled their twitter followers, and helped them achieve more engagement with the group and more.

But personally and professionally it’s given me something more. It’s reminded me of just how much I find the world of organisational culture, employee engagement and choosing the right tools to make it work, fascinating. I chose this area as my dissertation project when I studied at Bournemouth University back in the late ’90s and have touched on it through my career.

So I’ve taken a bold step to invest in my career, both with time and money, and decided to study the CIPR Internal communication diploma with the PR Academy. I will be hitting the books with a group of like-minded individuals and producing a 6,000 word research assignment at the end of July.

I’ll write occasionally here about my experiences, challenges and insights alongwith my regular postings.

Wish me luck