I’d have to say I’ve never been more satisfied professionally than when I worked in the education sector. That in itself says a lot because I’ve had some pretty incredible opportunities in my career.
Working in education gave me a chance to feed my own curiosity and work with like-minded people. But most important of all, it gave me an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others.
As a trusted partner and marketer, I had a chance to help colleagues secure support for their academic research and share their expertise with students.
As a leader, I had a chance to build people and teams up, empowering them to reach their potential.
As a hiring manager in the education space, I was always looking for learning animals to join my teams – people who had an insatiable curiosity, a commitment to self-improvement, and a knack for helping others. If you can demonstrate that then you’re off to a good start!
When starting your search, it’s worth looking at the whole sector – not just universities. My career journey into education started out with TAFE – and I loved every minute of it!
Also, enrol in further education. It speaks volumes about your personal commitment to self-improvement and understanding the education business.
And finally, talk to people already in the education sector.
I could say culture, finances, and leadership.
And while I think all of these are important, I’d say take a close look at the things that directly affect your experience in the job. That includes:
If any of these things don’t feel right, then it’s probably not the right role for you – no matter how great the organisation is.
As Head of Communications at ACU, I had some fantastic opportunities.
My top three would have to be:
The challenging part of delivering big changes like these is that it takes time.
ACU is a large-ish organisation with lots of stakeholders. It takes a lot of patience, determination, and empathy with colleagues to get the best possible outcomes.
Publicly funded educational institutions are like no other organisation I’ve worked in.
They are this peculiar combination of an intellectual collective, a multimillion-dollar commercial enterprise, and a community drop-in centre.
As fascinating as this is, it does mean that publicly funded educational institutions are constantly being pushed and pulled in different directions. As a Head of Communications, you have to navigate this tension too.
You’ve got to manage a lot of different stakeholders and ideas of what the institution should do and say.
I was fortunate to work with a whole host of extremely talented people – both my ACU colleagues and people I engaged on projects. That’s what I enjoyed most about the job.
How does it compare to your previous experience?
I’ve been fortunate to work with some top people over the course of my career, including at TAFE, where, as I mentioned, my journey into the education sector began.
The four-year investment I made at ACU, meant that I was able to develop an in-depth understanding of the higher education ‘business’.
It’s a big issue, especially for universities that have been reliant on federal government bachelor-degree funding.
And it doesn’t just impact the number of bachelor-degree students universities can afford to take. That’s because it’s common for universities to use this income source to fund some of their other activities – like research which is critical to their academic reputation.
So, what options do universities have?
Whichever direction universities choose to take it’ll require an investment in the right people, whether that’s in:
Six Degrees Executive helped me assemble the all-star communications team I needed at ACU.
When I was competing against Australia’s biggest universities for public attention, what I needed was a larger media-savvy team of people that could really help the University punch above its weight.
Six Degrees Executive pulled out all the stops to find them for me.
Building the team that I did, meant ACU was often able to outperform much larger and more well-known competitors.
Like all hiring managers, I want the best. But I also want my candidates to have the best possible experience – no matter what the final outcome is. And that’s what Six Degrees Executive does for all of its candidates.