Meet Axel, graduate of International Business Management

Read about graduate Axel's move into Marketing, the skills he's developed and now practices, and his jobhunting tips for future students.

"I love talking to people, understanding them, the world they live in, what moves them and why."

How did you get your job working at The Other Agency?

A combination of taking a chance and keeping track of my email history very well. Around the same time that I was considering a new job, a copywriter position opened up at an ad agency that I had applied to two years prior. I had cancelled the interview prematurely back then because I had already signed my first contract somewhere else.

More than 2 years later, I asked them in that same email thread if they were also interested in hiring a Strategist, and that I’d love the chance to have the coffee chat we planned two years before. 

Lucky me, they simply hadn’t gotten around to posting the job description yet. 2 exciting interviews later, I signed my contract at The Other Agency. 

What key skills do you use in your job?

• Research often this comes down to finding the distant weird corners of the internet where culture happens. Where you find inspiration. That and being able to talk to people. Getting them to feel comfortable and sharing the answers that tell the story.
• Lateral thinking is a harder one to explain, but I know I practise it daily. It’s about finding hidden patterns, connecting dots, and bringing two things together that don’t usually belong together, to create new meaning from it. A good exercise there is the Guillford Alternative Uses Test.
• The third skill is writing clearly. I write to make a clear and concise story of whatever I’m working on. Having to write something down forces you to make points clearly. This skill is something I've picked up from a strategist I follow on Linkedin. 

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I love talking to people, understanding them, the world they live in, what moves them and why. An open and honest conversation can inspire so much more than all the big data in the world put together. For me, a Strategist’s main job is making the Creatives’ work as effective as possible. There’s little as fulfilling as walking around in the street with friends or family and going “Look, I helped create that!”

Your career path took some twists and turns. Can you briefly explain?

My internship in London got cancelled in September after getting ghosted by the agency. I threw a Hail Mary LinkedIn DM to one of the companies we visited during the personal development trip in the second year and I got everything sorted within two weeks. At my internship, I spent two weeks as a project manager intern, after switching to the strategy department. Before that moment, I had no idea what I wanted to do for work. But after spending 4 months at one of the best creative networks in Europe, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. 

I came back to Belgium to graduate and start a bridge year to a Master in multilingual professional communication, only to quit after two months. Next up was a job hunt of 30+ emails, almost no replies except for three interview invitations. I ended up signing for the first agency I interviewed with and cancelling the two other interviews.

What are your thoughts on further education beyond a Bachelor's?

Keep learning! But in my opinion you don’t need a Master’s for a career in Marketing.
If you ask me, there are only 3 valid reasons to do a Master’s to get into Marketing: you’re not ready to give up student life; the company you want to work for requires a Master’s degree; studying something entirely different to add to your knowledge

The internet democratised everything. You want to learn something? Google and download it! There’s loads of free knowledge from free online university courses, more practical online learning platforms, or even YouTube videos and Linkedin posts. I learnt  how to do marketing from 2-3 online courses, a few podcasts, and following the right people on Linkedin.

In what ways did KdG best prepare you for your chosen career?

The guest lecturers, peers with a similar outlook, the business trip, and the international internship were all invaluable. My current career track snowballed from the business trip during the second year, so credit where credit is due for International Business Management and KdG.

What key moments were there during your studies when you realised a sense of personal development?

On one of the last group projects in the third year, I realised I could take up a leadership role far more naturally than I had before.

During my internship I found I  could express my opinion a lot more easily with my mentor, and he used my ideas in his final client presentation. Seeing my thinking being used by someone I admired, helped me fight the Impostor Syndrome happening in my own head.

How did you prepare for your career search whilst still a KdG student?

I started setting up my Linkedin profile and job alerts, wrote a tailored CV for each position I was interested in, and I started going to more networking events whether organised by KdG or otherwise. 

What job-hunting tips can you offer?

• Don't be discouraged if you don't always get a response. Keep going.
• Be original in your cover letter format. Embrace your inner geek! Most hiring officers get hundreds of cover letters and anything that follows a template you’ve found on the internet won't stand out to them. Your cover letter is your first impression, so make it count. 
• Don't focus too much on the job description. In reality, half of the time you won’t be doing those tasks anyway. But that’s a good thing.  Instead of basing your job hunt on job descriptions, look out for companies that do the kind of work you admire or for a senior profile that you’d like to learn from.
• Once you’ve made it to an interview, ask to speak to a future colleague. Hiring managers won’t tell you the internal struggles and annoyances, but employees usually do. You can also ask them more specific questions, as many hiring managers are not involved in the day-to-day activities. 
• If you get to the stage of proposals, don’t get trigger-happy. Don’t say yes to the first job you interview for and don’t say yes to the first proposal they offer. Give yourself the time and space to consider mutliple options.
• Find a mentor: someone who you can align your point of view with. 

What’s next for you?

For now, I’m focused on creating inspiring communication for my clients that really resonates with people, rather than simply pushing a product or service.

I believe this is the right approach to Marketing. Who knows, maybe in a few years, and with the experience I've built up, I’ll jump over to an in-house position and take control of an entire brand from start to finish.

Axel's interview in context

Axel's move into Marketing is just one example of the multitude of career options available to graduates of International Business Management.

We'll be sharing more success stories from our graduates as they start careers in a variety of fields. From start-ups to larger organisations, the KdG Alumni spread far and wide. So watch this space!