- Olivia Thompson graduated from Hull in 2019 and has since forged a successful career in marketing
“Joining the University of Hull through clearing was the best decision I ever made.”
Olivia Thompson – like so many – joined the University through Clearing.
Since graduating in 2019, Olivia Thompson has embarked on a successful marketing career.
Now a Marketing Executive at East Yorkshire-based business Clarity Lean and Visual Management, Olivia recently chatted to Hull Is This editor Rich Sutherland about her career, her time at university, and making friends for life.
Hi, Olivia. First of all, how did you find your time at university?
I loved my time at the University of Hull – I went through the Clearing process and it was the best decision I ever made.
Whilst there, I joined one of the many societies that Hull University Students’ Union has to offer, playing netball each week with a great bunch of girls.
I graduated in 2019 and I’m still close friends with many of them, plus a few of us get together regularly to play matches like the old days.
How did you find out about Clarity?
I have to admit that I had no idea what I wanted to do in terms of a career whilst at university.
For a while I worked as a sales admin for another company and I really wanted to go into marketing, but it was a very hard time to find a suitable vacancy due to the pandemic.
It was then that I saw the job advert for the Marketing Executive role at Clarity Lean and Visual Management.
The interview clearly went well, as I came on board shortly after and was kept on following my probationary period. I’m very happy to say that I’m now a full-time member of the team.
What does your role involve?
To put it simply, I bring all of the marketing together. Clarity runs a wide variety of external comms activity, so I make sure that it all works in unison as part of a clear strategy.
This involves responsibility over a quarterly comms plan that lays out the topics and campaigns the company will focus on over the coming months, which are shared through social media, email campaigns, blogs, video case studies and much more.
As part of the process, I work with the entire team here at Clarity very closely. We also have monthly meetings where I ask everyone if they have any ideas for reaching new audiences, then I decide how we can integrate them into the marketing strategy.
How easy was it to take on this role?
Starting at Clarity was a bit of a baptism of fire, as it was a newly formed position and I had to hit the ground running.
This shows how much faith Damian White, the company’s Managing Director, had in me from the start, so it was a very interesting and rewarding challenge to be entrusted with.
What new skills have you picked up?
Over the last few months I’ve enhanced my software skills, especially in terms of Microsoft Office, Photoshop, Mailchimp, and the HubSpot sales and marketing suite.
I’ve also learnt a lot more about the SEO (search engine optimisation) side of marketing, including the creation, monitoring and fine-tuning of Google ads.
The wider marketing activity is a team effort, which includes me working with specialist providers such as Screaming Frog, VIP Creative, R&RStudio and sobananapenguin.
This has helped me to further understand how the world of marketing works, which I wouldn’t have been able to learn if it wasn’t for Clarity giving me the opportunity to prove myself.
What are your plans for the future?
Clarity is constantly growing and its clients work in all kinds of sectors. This allows me to discover how different types of businesses function and what they require to achieve operational excellence. It’s a constant learning journey and I’m loving every second of it!
More specifically, I aim to improve my knowledge of SEO because it’s such a huge area of expertise, plus I'm looking into ways to make the Clarity website more interactive.
Now that life is returning back to normal, I’ll also be exploring opportunities for organising events, such as talks and workshops. It’s a very exciting time and I love the atmosphere at Clarity – I couldn’t be happier with where my career journey is taking me.
To find out more about Clarity Lean and Visual Management, please call 01482 296451 or visit www.clarityvisualmanagement.com.