Page 17 - Future Leaders 2018-2019

ALUMNI 10TH
ANNIVERSARY
SPOTLIGHT Arts

Arts
JAMES BELL

OUR MAN AT NUMBER 10

James, who featured in Future Leaders in 2010, is now Head of Campaigns in the Prime
Minister’s Offi ce and Cabinet Offi ce communications team. It’s his job to make sure major
government campaigns deliver the best possible outcomes for the Prime Minister and the
taxpayer. His work is interesting and challenging and no two days are the same.

y journey to the heart of government
started when I went to study broadcast
M journalism at Staffordshire University.
My time at uni was really valuable – it taught me
how to craft stories and introduced me to
the world of digital media. The course was very I actually gave
hands-on and I gained a lot of practical skills, a terrible
shooting and editing video as well as interview and
conducting interviews. didn’t even get
There can sometimes be a snobbery about the position
going to ex-polytechnics or doing more until someone
‘vocational’ courses, but it gave me the ideal start
and the practical nature of the course ensured a else dropped out.
smooth transition into the workplace. Job hunting
The obvious career path after graduating is part
would be to get into journalism, but a couple perseverance,
of work experience stints in local radio part motivation,
convinced me that it wasn’t for me. Sometimes part luck.
doing work experience is as much about
learning what you don’t want to do as much
as fi nding your dream job.
After many, many applications and
rejections, I eventually secured a Civil
Service internship at the Ministry of local Iceland supermarket, delivering shopping
Defence. I actually gave a terrible on a Saturday. The two worlds couldn’t have been
interview and didn’t even get more different and it was a tough year, but I knew
caption here caption here caption here caption here
the position until someone I was getting closer to achieving my goal.
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else dropped out. Job hunting From there, I moved to another, larger agency
is part perseverance, part where I stayed until I started thinking about
motivation, part luck. That getting back into government. One thing led to
was my fi rst taste of life in another and here I am at Downing Street.
Government and the Civil The reason I’m dressed in a military uniform
Service, but it was several in the photograph above, by the way, is because
years before I returned. I am a Reservist with the Honourable Artillery
I decided after the MOD Company, one of the oldest military organisations
I’d give PR a try so I secured in the world and this was Reserves Day At Work.
an internship at PR agency My advice for anyone thinking of pursuing
Ketchum, which instilled in me a similar career is fi rstly, don’t underestimate
a love of communications. From the power of relationships. Just because you
there I joined a boutique PR agency haven’t got family ‘connections’ doesn’t mean
focussed on technology. At the you shouldn’t actively try to build networks.
time, I was commuting from People are usually a lot more generous with
Cambridgeshire and I found their time than you think.
the costs of rent and My second piece of advice is stick
travel were too much with it, you will get rejections or
for my starting wage things that don’t work out,
alone, so I would but have a goal, stay
work in the agency focussed, be prepared to
Monday to Friday work hard and you’ll get
and do shifts at my there in the end.