Graduate's tips for career success blow up on social media

Fashion Marketing graduate Yasmin Flowers finds Tiktok success sharing marketing portfolio advice to over 65k followers.

When Yasmin Flowers graduated Falmouth in 2020 with First-Class Honours in Fashion Marketing, it was hardly surprising to see her career quickly take shape. 

Shortly after leaving Falmouth, the Nottingham-based graduate took her marketing portfolio to several different companies before being offered a position at local marketing agency Summit Creative. 

But the stress of searching for work had an impact on Yasmin – she wanted to share how she was able to land her job and help others along on their journey. Yasmin recognised the growing demand amongst her generation for purposeful social media content. The desire for useful information, married with a job market that has become increasingly difficult to navigate due to the impacts of Covid-19, led to the creation of flo. 

flo. found immediate success on TikTok. On the channel, Yasmin has shared her secrets for marketing success and racked up thousands of views. From portfolio tips to useful resources for building marketing skills, flo. is packed full of useful information for graduates looking to make an impact in the marketing industry. 

We caught up with Yasmin to hear about her reflections on university, her working life and the importance of flo.  

It was refreshing. The course itself was very fast-paced and creative which I enjoyed because every module provided a good taste of the industry.

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You studied Fashion Marketing at Falmouth – what are your memories of that time, and how did your degree prepare you for life after graduation?

Honestly, I loved every second of university. I met the most amazing people and had great opportunities that I never would’ve had staying at home. The lifestyle of living next to the beach and walking through the beautiful town was surreal for me; I’m from Nottingham, so it's a little different here in the midlands.

It was refreshing. The course itself was very fast-paced and creative which I enjoyed because every module provided a good taste of the industry. The most standout memory for me was packing my things and leaving last year when lockdown first hit.It was a very surreal and strange experience but I was so happy to have achieved a First-Class Honours after it all.

Fashion Marketing allowed me to explore my skills because we had a variety of different projects throughout the three years – the collaboration side of things and the presentations we had to do massively helped me prepare for life after graduating – I quickly learnt these were highly valuable skills for marketing! However, it was still an incredibly big jump going from student life to full to employment – I don't think anyone is ever fully prepared. 

What are you up to now?

I currently work full time as a Marketing Assistant for an agency near me. This was my first job in the industry and I landed it in September 2020. I was so happy when I got the call, I cried!

It's such a relief after endless applications and interviews. I was really thankful and lucky to have landed a role in marketing quite quickly after graduating.

I really enjoy being a Marketing Assistant as I get to work on a variety of projects rather than focusing on a specific niche. I work with clients all over the UK and it's been an incredible experience so far producing work for them – it massively helped me build my confidence. 

What is flo.?

flo. is an online community that provides portfolio and marketing insights, advice and guidance. It's a safe place for students, graduates, marketing professionals, creative individuals…pretty much anyone to come along and feel welcome. It's a community where I help others who might be struggling with creating a portfolio. 

There are others who want to learn more on how they progress in their careers, who want to know what marketing is all about or what a print portfolio is – the opportunities are endless and I never say no to any questions I receive.

It's a very overwhelming and scary time entering the world of work or being a student or basically navigating life with what you want to do - I created flo. to make others feel inspired, confident and relieved that they are not alone in this journey. 

Get involved, speak up and don't be scared to say the wrong thing - everyone is there to learn and it’ll massively help you build your confidence.

Your TikTok has over 68k followers and your videos regularly attract tens of thousands of views. Why do you think flo. gets so much engagement on social media?

I think the main thing is being yourself. I don't spend hours trying to perfect the right video - because there is no right video and there never will be a perfect one. It's all about being authentic and genuine on TikTok and I feel my followers can resonate with that.

I also love what I do and I have a real passion for supporting others with their portfolios, so I think that helps as I'm always motivated to film more - consistency is key for engagement rates! The last thing is – I don't think a lot of people are actually aware of the value in portfolios and in specific, have never seen a marketing portfolio before as they are stereotypically just associated with graphic design. I think that sparked a lot of curiosity and that's how it spiralled to achieve the following it has! 

What advice would you give to someone who’s considering study marketing at university?

DO IT!

Jokes aside, I think it's a brilliant course and industry. If you’re a business-minded person with a creative mindset, it's the perfect course for you.

The best piece of advice I can give is to make use of all the resources because they will be relevant/useful when you graduate at some point, even if you don't realise it.

Get involved, speak up and don't be scared to say the wrong thing - everyone is there to learn and it’ll massively help you build your confidence.

Make sure to do your research too – sign up to useful resource pages to receive the latest trends, forecasts & news – that's so important in marketing! Other than that, just have fun, be yourself and make sure to brush up on your terminology - ROI, CTA, PPC... you name it!

Visit the flo. website