Andreas Needham, one of our top Diploma in Public Relations graduates tells us how Fitzwilliam Institute's part-time evening course led to his successful Communications Officer career with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency:
"I took the night classes for my Diploma in Public Relations with the Fitzwilliam Institute. I was working in marketing communications and PR in a tech company when I started the course, having recently made the move from magazine journalism. I was a journalism graduate but despite working in the ‘PR industry’, I didn’t have any formal industry-recognised qualifications. The night classes allowed me to keep working (I moved to agency PR when I was half-way through the course when the dotcom bubble burst in 2001 and I lost my job along with many others in the tech sector at the time) while studying two nights a week. Classes were held in city-centre locations which suited me as I could just walk from my office every Monday and Wednesday evening. I still remember the various lecturers with fondness, really enjoyed the two years and made some good friends on the course. I put a fair bit of effort into the lectures, course work and projects as well as the end of year exams: ‘you get out what you put in’; and got my PRII Diploma at the end of it. Six years after finishing the course and after working in sports PR and journalism, I volunteered to work with the UN in Nairobi, Kenya, which has been my home ever since. I’ve worked in Somalia, Ethiopia, Jordan and now currently in Baghdad, Iraq. I recently applied for an online Masters in Media & PR with a UK university and my PR diploma, obtained through the Fitzwilliam Institute, was recognised and helped me get a place on the course".