From Nelson to the world: Nick Davies

Bachelor of Communication (2018)

Nelson College old boy Nick Davies has had a wide range of interesting jobs since graduating with his Bachelor of Communication in 2018. Currently he is based in the UK as Change Manager and Strategic Communicator for American Chemical Society, one of the largest scientific communities in the world. As a major professional organisation for chemists and other people working in chemistry and related sciences, ACS’s role is to support scientists, advance discovery, and champion trust in science. We reached out to Nick for a Q&A about contemporary communication careers and where his has taken him.

Successful communication graduates such as yourself are often quite mobile. How many different roles have you had since leaving university?

Since graduating, I’ve taken on seven different roles - from PR agencies to strategic communication consulting to a brief stint as a Government Press Secretary. While that’s a lot of variety for only eight years of working, I’ve strived to always be learning and challenging myself with new areas of work. And sometimes taking on vastly different roles is the best way to do that. I’ve now worked across PR, digital marketing, policy, consulting, political communication, and in the current field of change management. The common throughline, though, has been a strong foundation of communication skills - knowing who you’re talking to, shaping your message with them in mind, and always valuing early and genuine engagement with the groups your work impacts.

What is your main focus in your current role at American Chemical Society and what was the motivation for taking it on?

I am an Organizational Change Management Consultant, tasked with supporting the implementation of their new HR & Finance technology platform, and the required mindset shift that is needed to maximise its benefits to their people. This involves managing the people-side of those changes, and ensuring all those impacted have the awareness, desire, and knowledge to adopt their new way of working. I took on the role because I wanted to further build out my change management skills along with an appreciation of the company’s mission and an enjoyment of projects that allow me to work cross-culturally with a global team.

Your previous role with Mercy Ships looks interesting too – what did a typical day involve in that role?

Because the work and projects were so varied, describing a typical day at Mercy Ships is difficult. They are a fascinating, yet complex, nonprofit that operates the world's largest civilian hospital fleet, providing free healthcare across sub-Saharan Africa with an entirely volunteer workforce. My role focused on improving behind-the-scenes operations. This included change management for technology shifts across their roughly 15 country offices, streamlining the volunteer experience, and assisting Senior Leadership in navigating necessary, but sometimes controversial, changes and their organisational impact.

What are some of the comms fundamentals you still use day to day?

Whether you’re running comms for a social media campaign or a company-wide technology shift, you always need to identify the comms goals you want to achieve, the audience you want to target, the message that resonates best with that group, and the channels that can best carry and represent that message. It’s Communication 101, but it's a fundamental process even the most senior leaders forget.

What would you say to other young people thinking about a career in communication? For example, is it important for them to get a degree if they are keen to enter the field?

A degree in communication can be a more straightforward pathway into the communication field and can help both in teaching fundamentals and in building connections with the industry. I myself got my first job at a communication agency through Massey University's industry links. Breaking into the industry without a degree is absolutely possible, but more difficult.

For you personally, what aspects of your BC or university experiences do you think helped you most with launching you into the workforce?

Thanks to my BC degree, I had so many opportunities to gain practical experience and insight into working in the actual industry. The Communication Internship paper let me choose any organization to approach for a communication internship - which saw me work for the NZEI – New Zealand's largest education union - right in the middle of a national teachers' strike. A lecturer I was close with recommended that I apply for a PR Internship in Mumbai, which I pursued and was accepted into. Massey University also recommended me for a part-time media analyst role at the comms agency that would later hire me full time and where I’d work for the first three years of my career.

Anything else you’d like to say to young people still at school and unsure about their future about studying the BC at Massey or entering a comms career?

Communications is a dynamic field that can open a lot of doors across disciplines and industries, as nearly every major organisation relies on a dedicated comms function. However, it is really important to be smart about getting into the field. Communications roles are not at risk of being taken over entirely by AI, but a lot of the work typically done by graduates is being replaced. On top of that, the shrinking media environment means more competition from journalists transitioning to the field.

For those reasons, I would recommend future-proofing your career as much as possible, by researching the market carefully and finding the niches that both interest you and aren’t disappearing. Also have an early idea of the kinds of companies and internship programmes you’d like to go for. Most importantly, don't be afraid to cold email local professionals in roles you admire and ask them for coffee! People love to talk about their careers, and if they’re hiring graduates in the future, you can bet you’ll be front of mind.