A day in the life with alumna Gemma Joyce

"After a few months spent freelance writing, I joined Brandwatch in the winter of 2015 – the same year I graduated. I’ve been with the company ever since, gradually working my way up in my team and learning a lot along the way.

"Brandwatch is a digital consumer intelligence company. The aim is to bring structure and meaning to the voices of billions of people, helping businesses to make better decisions. In practice, this means we provide really powerful software that helps people make sense of what’s being said online in public social media posts, blogs, news articles, and more.

"My first role at the company was as a Social Data Journalist, which essentially meant I wrote blog posts for the website about interesting trends on the internet which I found using Brandwatch tools.

"I chose to work at Brandwatch because it meant I got access to all this “exclusive” data that I could write interesting stories about. I also knew I wanted to go into journalism or writing, and I’d spent a lot of my time at Exeter writing for (and eventually editing) Exeposé. I actually heard of the role at Brandwatch through someone I’d worked with on Exeposé, and the experience and the contacts I made in student journalism really helped with kickstarting my career.

"As a data journalist, I drove loads of traffic to the Brandwatch website and generally had a lot of fun coming up with story ideas and learning about the industry. Over the years, I worked my way up in the company. First to Blog Editor, then to Content Manager, and now to Senior Content Manager.

"A typical day might now include content planning, briefing freelancers, editing work from writers within the company, speaking at a virtual event about our data, having meetings about new campaigns, and, of course, writing.

"When there isn’t a pandemic raging, I’ve also been able to travel a lot with Brandwatch. In 2019 I got to visit our New York and Boston offices, attend and blog about our conference in Chicago, and speak at an event in Madrid all in the space of a few weeks. That amount of travelling and meeting so many people seems crazy post-Covid, but I’m hoping to get to see my colleagues overseas again soon.

"I should also say that learning is an important part of my week, and we’re encouraged to spend time attending learning events, doing internal and external courses, and taking advantage of free access to LinkedIn Learning. A couple of years ago I completed my NCTJ Diploma in News Journalism while working. I’m a massive fan of Brandwatch’s approach to personal development, and I’ve still got lots to learn about being a good manager and leader so we can take our content to the next level."