Maeve Reilly, Director of Communications for the Beckman Institute on campus, spoke this week for the Engl 199: Careers in the Humanities lecture series about what it means to have a career in communications. As a Director of Communications, Reilly characterizes herself as a writer, editor, proofreader.
and event coordinator. We learned that working in Communications for the Beckman Institute can involve creating annual reports, putting together Synergy newsletters, composing news releases on published research, writing stories and producing videos on recent research, generating content for the Beckman website, posting updates to social media, planning the biennial Beckman open house, and organizing events. In other words, working in communications involves producing digital and print written and multi-media material for different audiences. In particular, Reilly’s work enables her to share the innovative and fascinating research of renowned faculty with the campus and the world.
Don’t assume that you have to have a degree in Communication to work in the field of communications! Reilly herself has a BA in English and an MA in Irish Drama and Literature. English and other humanities majors can excel in careers in communications, marketing, advertising, and many other fields because of the range of widely sought skills they possess.