Quickfire question – what are some of your favourite things to do as part of your career? Me? I love talking about internal comms as a profession, and I love supporting young people with their aspirations and development.
Being an ambassador for IoIC’s #IChoseIC programme is a dead cert in nailing the first one. And a website called ‘Inspiring the Future’, which connects workplace volunteers with schools and colleges, gives me all sorts of ways to pick up the second.
In July, I combined the two after spotting that a local special educational needs (SEN) school was looking for someone to go in and speak about a career that was relevant to the subject of English.
I chatted to a contact from the overarching group of schools about what she was looking for, and I explained how I’d approach it and what I’d cover. Before I knew it, she’d signed me up for sessions at two schools – double the opportunity to do what I love!
I’d never presented at an SEN school before so I learnt about the students, how they might engage and what they enjoy. I then used images to story tell – about me, about the sort of things I do as part of my job, and to demonstrate some of the skills that are useful as internal communicators. I knew that students at the second school would be more forthcoming with responses, so I threw in a quick practical exercise for them, too. One of the main things was to create a bite-sized session due to attention spans, so I made sure to wrap everything up in 20-25 minutes each time.
The sessions were different and rewarding in their own ways. Most were engaged (it would be a lie to say ‘everyone’!), there was interaction with the content and I got some great questions, like whether or not you need to be a graduate, if all organisations have someone doing this job, and what I get paid. I was ready for that last one!
One thing I really wanted to hit home was how everyone in the room was already developing at least some of the core skills we need in our profession. Building relationships with friends, listening to people, caring about others…they’re the foundation of what makes a good practitioner. And then there’s the practical stuff – lots of the students write blogs, take selfies, create videos, and use social media, which are all great ways to story tell and engage others.
When you think about it like that, internal comms is such an inclusive profession – it can suit lots of different people with a variety of skills, interests and experiences. And to promote it as a career of choice, we should have a captive audience. We just need to help people join the dots in terms of all those invaluable comms and creative skills they already put into practice every day.
Confidence, strategic thinking, stakeholder management…they’re all things that we develop over time. But as an entry point into internal comms, there are some amazing young people who could be ready and willing to step into our early career shoes.
So if you’re not already an #IChoseIC Ambassador, why not think about signing up? It’s fantastic to get out there, talk about what you love and help inspire those future internal communicators. Take a look now at what you could get involved in. I promise you’ll add it to your ‘favourite things to do’ list before long.
