Meet our PRSSA and IU alumna, Victoria Fields!
What did you study as an undergraduate? Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with a double major in Spanish and a concentration in Public Relations.
What was your extracurricular involvement like at IU?
I was heavily involved with PRSSA and participated in the Bateman Case Study Competition in 2011-2012. I also wrote for the IDS from 2009-2011.
Where has your career path taken you since graduating?
For the first two years out of school, I worked for a tech company headquartered in Birmingham, Ala. as a content marketing specialist. At Momentum, I learned a tremendous amount about technical writing and content marketing that I hadn't been exposed to during my undergrad. In 2014, I left Momentum to take a job at Cook Medical as the written content manager for the aortic intervention SBU. In 2017, I moved into a role that was created as part of company-wide restructure primarily focused on employee communications. In December, I left Cook to start my own content marketing business, Victoria Fields Content LLC.
What does your current role entail?
Clients hire me for a variety of content marketing needs including brand positioning and messaging, content for marketing materials, press releases, community outreach, and content strategy. One of the startups I'm working with is getting into the field of conversational design, which is designing and writing interactions for chatbots and voicebots (think technology like Alexa or Google Voice). They've hired me to write conversational scripts (things you could say to the bot and how the bot should respond) and design high-level conversation flows. I'm loving the variety of projects that I get to work on with clients in healthcare, tech, travel, the military, and the nonprofit sector.
What are your long-term career goals?
I love helping companies tell stories. As a journalist and a marketer, I've found a sweet spot helping organizations turn technical or corporate material into authentic, engaging content that connects with their audiences. I see myself continuing to find projects that allow me to tell stories.
What did you enjoy the most about IU PRSSA while you were a member?
The Bateman Case Study Competition was a highlight of my time with PRSSA. Not only did I gain extremely valuable real-world campaign experience, which I used in my portfolio while looking for jobs, but I also made close friendships that I still maintain today. In fact, I met one of my best friends from college, Courtney Arregui, on our Bateman team.
How should current PRRSA members prepare for a career in PR and communications? When I graduated, I didn't know enough about business and had to learn a lot on the job. Make sure you know enough about business operations and metrics to support the leadership team wherever you land. Trends in tech also emerge quickly, and you can find career opportunities if you become an expert early. Pay attention to new fields for writers and marketers – like conversational design.