Feature article

Oh, the places Humber grads will go

When we speak with PRC graduate Kate Mahoney, she’s in her London living room. It is quintessentially London, exactly what you picture an apartment there — or should we say flat — would look like, with a beautiful old fireplace with an antique mantle and tile surround. After moving to the U.K. just three years ago for an internship at the London-based public relations firm Hope&Glory, Mahoney, now an account manager at the firm, is living her dream.

From the moment Mahoney first set foot in London, on a visit after high school graduation, she was in love. “There was something about it – whether it was the culture, or the people – and I just felt very at home,” she reminisced. While studying psychology at the University of Toronto, she was lucky enough to do a six-month exchange at University College London. With that, her love for London deepened and she knew she wanted to move back.

Throughout her undergraduate studies, Mahoney was involved in several extracurriculars, doing promotional work as the public relations officer for Hey, Teach! Magazine, and as the marketing manager and later the vice president of events for the Victoria College Athletic Association. Originally, her plan was to become a teacher. It wasn’t until someone working in public relations suggested to her that it might be a good fit that she started to investigate Humber College’s public relations program.

While it was a big departure from the teaching track she’d started out on, the connections to the interests she’d developed in her extracurricular activities were clear. “It was less about the degree and more about what I did outside of my degree that made me more interested in PR,“ she admits. Even so, Mahoney sees many aspects of public relations and strategic communications stemming from psychology and behaviour change.

Of course, when it came time to fulfill Humber’s internship requirement, Mahoney knew exactly where she wanted to go: London. Not knowing where to start, she typed “best PR agencies to work at in London” into a Google search, and with the help of one of her program instructors, drafted an email to Hope&Glory. “Without Humber, I wouldn’t have the confidence to reach out to Hope&Glory, which is where I work right now and ask them if they’d be interested in hiring an intern from Canada.”

Sorting out visas and work sponsorships can be a daunting task, but luckily for Mahoney, the U.K. is one of more than 30 countries that Canada has bilateral agreements with to encourage youth to gain international experience. Through International Experience Canada, work permits in most European countries as well as Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Chile and parts of Asia are more flexible, and faster and easier to get.

Mahoney’s advice for finding a job abroad? Cold call (or email) the companies you’re interested in, “Just show that you’re interested, whether it’s a couple campaigns you really liked or a client you really want to work on.” In Mahoney’s case, Hope&Glory considered an in-person interview to be an important part of the process. Taking a leap of faith and flying across the pond for a few days during the summer break panned out, earning her that internship she was coveting.

As for whether Mahoney plans on returning to Canada any time soon, she’s pretty happy with her first professional job out of school. “I really see myself living in London,” she says when asked about the future. “I just feel very at home here. I love where I’m working right now. I feel so lucky to be able to work for them – they’re an amazing agency and there’s so many opportunities here.”

With her experience at Humber, Mahoney landed a role in her dream city. Now the question is, where will your Humber education take you?