Adam McIlroy

Hello there,

My name is Adam, and I am a creative and driven scot living in Edinburgh, and I am seeking to continue my career in financial crime analysis. I have just completed a master’s in Classics at the University of St. Andrews; I earned a Distinction classification, and performed so highly that I have been added to the Deans’ List for academic excellence. Prior to this, I lived in Munich, where I worked as a copywriter in the brand-new marketing team of a telecoms software company called ECT. In that role, I learned a great deal about content creation, from proofreading and editing; to internal comms in our company newsletter (which I created); to external, SEO-based blogposts, and web and marketing content for clients; to UX-copy for our products; and project and relationship management. All forms of content were written to the highest standard, and to a strict deadline.
This job allowed me to combine my passions for high-quality content and expanding my knowledge. A lot of the blog content I wrote for ECT required me to take densely technical telecoms computing concepts — of which I knew nothing before joining the company — and turn them into engaging content in layman’s terms. Naturally, I needed to learn on the fly every day, as well as to bring the right information out of my more technically minded colleagues. I edited and proofread content by non-native English speakers at the company on a daily basis; I was virtually the only English native speaker working for ECT in a content role, so this was a responsible position. I also have a diploma in proofreading from the College of Media and Publishing.
I am very highly educated: Further to the master’s I have just acquired, I have a master’s (with Distinction) in Creative Writing. Both of these degrees have honed my writing and research skills in different ways. As part of my master’s in Classics, I travelled to Greece to speak at a conference, and my paper is due to be published in a prestigious journal. On my Creative Writing master’s, I had a story published in the inaugural issue of the Edge to Edge journal between Aberdeen University, and Curtin University in Australia.
The blend of my academic credentials and hands-on, professional content experience stands me in good stead for any writing task. I am an agile learner: before starting both my master’s in Classics, and my role at ECT, I had had no formal engagement with Latin / classical culture, nor with the telecoms industry respectively. Despite this, in both situations, I was able to excel and produce extremely high quality content in line with what was expected of me. I have no doubt that I would continue to excel with whatever opportunity you may offer me. I would love to bring the different strands of my experience together to your team!

I can provide references upon request and I can start work immediately.

Yours faithfully,
Adam McIlroy
 

P.S. You can find my portfolio, featuring a wide range of content styles, here: asnapshotofme-dot-wordpress-dot-com — the password is “123pleasehireme!” (Sorry …).

Copywriter: European Computer Telecoms (ECT), Munich, Germany, Mar 2019 - Mar 2021.

Joined brand new marketing department in telecoms-software company and helped it grow from the ground up. Established voice of copy in the form of blog posts, case studies, UX-copy, and scripts. Wrote copy, and proofread copy produced by non-native speakers. Created internal and external email newsletters with MailChimp for the sharing of blogposts and colleague interviews. Analysed data with GoogleAnalytics.

Interviewed technical colleagues for case studies and success stories, which required the ability to ask the right questions and build rapport with a typically introverted group of people.

Managed external relationships with partners like the Munich Chamber Orchestra; developed ad campaigns with them around central company theme of Diversity, as well as social media campaigning.

Selected agencies for project work such as video ecards, company rebranding, and design of artwork. This included liaising with agencies, forming contacts, and driving projects forward.

Mlitt, Classics (with Distinction): University of St. Andrews, Saint Andrews, Fife, Sept 2022 - Sept 2023.

After the pandemic I returned to university to study something I am passionate about: the Classical world. Having started learning Latin from scratch, I became one of the best in the year. I will shortly be publishing work in an academic journal, with the Head of the School, Roger Rees, describing an essay I wrote as refreshing and modern. I also traveled to Greece to speak at a conference. This Masters has honed my writing, research, communication and presentation skills. I also discussed my thesis on a podcast. I have earned a Distinction classification overall, and been included on the Deans’ List for academic excellence.

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MLitt Creative Writing (with distinction): University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, Sept 2015 - Aug 2016.
MA (hons) english literature & legal studies (2:1): University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, Sept 2010 - July 2014.