Meet Your Colleagues - Michelle Rankin

Here at SERC we are keen to promote internal colleagues to allow staff the opportunity to get to know each other and put a face to the name, particularly due to the size and scope of SERC.  With this in mind, “Meet your Colleagues” is a fun Q and A exercise to help raise awareness of people’s roles within SERC and allows you to get to know more about your fellow colleagues.  

This week’s Meet Your Colleague is Michelle Rankin. Michelle was recently promoted to Senior Communications Officer within the Communications and Marketing Department at SERC. Congratulations Michelle!

What does your role at SERC involve?  

For the past 7 years my role as PR and Communications Officer at SERC involved raising awareness of the College through local and regional press coverage and broadcast. A key priority was also to build and manage relationships with journalists and editors to ensure maximum coverage for the College.   More recently, I applied for and was successful in securing the Senior Communications Officer vacancy which will see me working collaboratively across academic and corporate departments to promote corporate design and branding. I will also be responsible for developing and rolling out advertising campaigns for student and business recruitment. I will also provide training for staff in the use of the corporate brand and I hope I can bring my skills and knowledge from my previous role to support and advise colleagues on marketing activity to help them meet their many diverse needs.  

Tell us a bit about your background?  

I have both public and private sector experience. My first graduate job was as Marketing and Events Officer at Belfast City Council. I worked as part of the Celebrate Belfast 2006 campaign which was set up to promote the centenary year of Belfast City Hall.  During my time there I got to meet Rachel Stevens, Calum Best, Eamonn Holmes and Bob the Builder! I was responsible for organising outdoor advertising campaigns, photo shoots and editorial for newspapers, monthly newsletters and the well-known What’s on Guide. My claim to fame is that I made the front page of the Newsletter – having organised a full costume photo shoot to promote Proms in the Park. 

As it was a fixed term contract, I then left and spent one year as Marketing Officer for The Energy Saving Trust and a further two years as Communications Officer at Camden Group. I joined SERC in November 2011.

What 3 words best describe you?     

Friendly, hardworking, assertive

What do you like to do outside of work?     I’m out-doorsy so I like to be outside as much as possible whether its walking, gardening or just tidying up. I’m completing a level 6 CIM digital diploma at the minute so much of my free time is spent writing up assignments. But I do like to put a match to the fire and having cosy nights in with family and friends! Especially at this time of year.

If you could swap jobs for a day who would it be and why?  

To be honest, I love the role that I’m in and would not want to be doing anything else, but if I were really pushed, I would have loved to have swapped jobs with Alexandra Shulman the former editor of Vogue. It seems very glamorous and fact paced – but I suppose I would need more than a day! I do think she missed the digital boat with the magazine, so it will be exciting to see where the new editor takes the magazine.  Either that or I wouldn’t object to a day working as a hotel shuttle bus driver in Banff!  

List 3 items you would want with you if you were stranded on a deserted island?  

Sunscreen, fishing net and a bottle of water I could cope with that.

What is your favourite film and why?  

Top Gun –Tom Cruise in the 80’s! No really, everyone needs a good wingman and a pair of aviators!

Where do you most want to travel, but have never been?  

Earlier in the year my husband and me did our bucket list top pick which was travelling from the Rockies to Vancouver. Our next holiday will hopefully be travelling around Vancouver Island and down the Sunshine Coast. Flight alerts have been activated! Friendliness is in the Canadian water! I would also love to go to Alaska. I like the fact that its remote and full of wilderness and wildlife. The legs would be well and truly be walked off me there and I’d get my fill of the outdoors. For short haul - I’d also like to visit the Alpine region of Switzerland at some stage. The scenery looks amazing and I’d like to see the Alps. 

If you would like to partake in “Meet Your Colleagues” please contact Roisin Morgan (Marketing and Engagement Intern) at rmorgan@serc.ac.uk for more details.