Amanda Jackson

Amanda took the BA Modern Languages & Culture with a Year Abroad, with a focus on French & Italian, and graduated in 2016.

What do you do now?

I work in Corporate Partnerships at the Natural History Museum and previously held a similar role at English National Opera. My role is to recruit new corporate supporters and steward existing relationships to help drive income generation for charities; this involves learning about all sorts of fascinating projects at the Museum, writing proposals, hosting events, and building and managing client relationships.

What did you do on your year abroad?

I knew I wanted to work on my year abroad but wasn’t completely decided on my future career so this gave me a great opportunity to try a couple of different hats. I spent the first half of the year in Milan, assisting in a multi-brand fashion showroom. This covered anything that needed doing at any given time – receptionist, visual merchandiser, running the Twitter feed, organising deliveries. The most daunting task by far was cooking pasta for my Italian colleagues during the chaos of Fashion Week… 

I then worked in a gallery in Paris, selling venues and delivering events for client photoshoots, private events, and exhibitions. The year gave me such a fantastic insight into events, developing client relationships, the arts and fashion worlds – alongside huge growth in interpersonal skills.

What is the most important piece of advice you'd like to give to students of Modern Languages?

Don’t be afraid to grab onto an opportunity to try something new. The Year Abroad presents so many different ways to stretch yourself and it was so clear to see when we all returned for our final year – everybody had grown up so much and had so many fun stories to tell.

How did your studies prepare you for what you do now?

Moving abroad and living independently are huge opportunities for personal growth and set you apart from other candidates when you’re applying for jobs post-university – people still ask about it several years into my career. Studying languages also helps you learn so much about communication and how people think, live, and work – never let anyone tell you that’s just a ‘soft’ skill! My current job encompasses building and managing relationships with clients, developing written proposals, and communicating with audiences – all of which utilise skills I developed through studying languages.