Jessica New
BA (Hons) Fashion Journalism 2014
Jess joined retail company ScS in 2015 as an Online Trading Executive.
She said: “I currently look after the merchandising of the company’s two websites, ensuring all products are priced and displayed in line with business requirements supporting the company’s 100 stores nationwide.
“I’m also responsible for coordinating all promotional activity on the website in line with offline marketing, creating high impact visuals and testing the website across different devices to ensure the customer has a good experience on the site.”
Jess has put to good use her journalistic skills as she has to create copy for the hundreds of products that arrive in store each year.
She explained: “Since joining the business in February 2015, I took on the task of SEO optimising all product copy across the ScS and House of Fraser, Made to Order Sofas website which included thousands of products. This is still a big part of my role creating copy for the hundreds of new ranges that arrive into store each year, helping customers throughout the buying journey.”
Jess, who has always had an interest in fashion, was attracted to the University of Sunderland, as she says the Fashion Journalism course was regarded as one of the best in the country and the only NCTJ accredited course.
The 25-year-old, originally from Sunderland, made the most of the university experience right on her doorstep.
“Throughout my course, I loved hearing from different guest speakers from the fashion industry, a lot of which studied at the University themselves before starting their career,” she said. “The course covered a broad range of subjects, with lecturers from the journalism industry offering real life experience and guidance.”
Her advice to recent graduates entering the job market is to be open minded about any opportunities that come their way.
She advised: “You might not land your dream job straight after graduating but you could discover something new you had never considered before.”
Her future plans include to continue to progress in her current role and within the digital marketing industry.