Roger Luxton鈥檚 career is testament to the fact that today鈥檚 qualifications can equip you for the jobs of tomorrow.
Having started out in marketing in the late 1980s, Roger has overseen a shift from pioneering uses of customer data to send direct mail, to providing software which enables brands to respond to online customer behaviour in less than 100 milliseconds.
Roger said: 鈥淲e talk a lot today about preparing young people for jobs that don鈥檛 even exist yet. This has always been the case, and technology has revolutionised the way that companies can understand and interact with their customers, in ways which could never have been predicted 30 years ago.鈥�
Roger鈥檚 own studies at 蜜桃AV followed some key developments in the institution鈥檚 formation. Having completed an HND in Business and Finance at Dorset Institute of Higher Education in 1988, he returned in 1991 to study a Diploma in Management Studies, from what had by then become Bournemouth Polytechnic.
Having completed his HND, Roger embarked on his first graduate role at Frizzell Insurance in Bournemouth. He said: 鈥淚 joined a graduate scheme, and while the others on the scheme had full degrees, I felt as though I could hit the ground running because my HND had prepared me so well for the practicalities of corporate life. The company supported me to further my education with the Diploma in Management Studies and that sparked an ongoing investment in my professional development that has carried through in the rest of my career.鈥�
Having started his career within financial services, Roger moved into data analytics by taking up a role within the marketing team at Experian. The move came at a time when companies were increasingly using demographic data to improve the targeting of their marketing campaigns, with a focus on sending direct mailings to potential customers in key postcodes. Having gained experience in-house with a big organisation, Roger went agency-side and began developing marketing plans for clients as diverse as Royal Mail, National Blood Service and The Labour Party.
As Roger has moved roles, he has achieved a number of additional postgraduate qualifications including a Diploma in Direct Marketing and an MBA. He said: 鈥淲hatever sector you work in, things change at an incredible pace. It鈥檚 important to keep on developing your skills and knowledge to ensure that you remain employable. I also think that under-performing in my A-levels spurred me on to achieve more in later life!鈥�
Today Roger is Director of Solutions Consulting at , which provides real-time decisioning technology to support clients鈥� digital transformation and improve the customer experience. He said: 鈥淲ith so much change happening in business sectors, it鈥檚 important to hold on to what you enjoy and what you are naturally good at, and let that guide you through your career. Whilst I鈥檝e managed teams, I now know I prefer the buzz of operating in a consultant role. I encourage people to take opportunities to reflect on the parts of their role that they get the most energy from, and try to carve out a career which enables them to make the most of it.鈥�