Careers Spotlight Series: Get To Know…Sali Midjek-Conway 

15 May 2026

Shining a light into different PR sectors and roles today is Sali Midjek-Conway, Head of Campaigns and Content at the University of Cumbria. Over the last 20 years, Sali has held roles at several Further Education and Higher Education establishments in the North West, plus spent several years as a consultant, supporting educational providers with their communications, brand and marketing strategies. 

How and why did you begin working in comms and PR?
My career started in sales and marketing where PR was prevalent, then I progressed into a role several years ago that included internal communications as well. This enabled me to flex my comms skills in a different way and led me to appreciate the different components of communications compared to marketing. They are two different skills sets, although often intrinsically linked. 

I would like to say something profound about how I got into education marketing and comms but I fell into it by chance! I was working at the time in an ad agency and wanted to try something different. Then a role in a FE college came up. Since then, I have had the pleasure of working with some great education organisations in addition to where I am now at Cumbria, such as London School of Economics (LSE), University of Manchester and the Association of Higher Education Professionals (formally AUA).

Tell us more about education marketing and comms?
Communications has always been important in HE, probably more so than marketing to some extent. However, this has now evolved and the two disciplines work hand in glove. Their combined role strengthens the impact on their reputation and research outputs, civic responsibility and the communities they serve. Recognising the broader value of our higher education beyond the qualifications institutions provide, whilst still aiming to deliver an excellent student experience. Historically going to university was just something some people did, whereas now there is more competition to not go. This means more emphasis is placed on the value of going to university and what returns will be gained as a result.

What do you enjoy about your job?
I love how something that is written or illustrated visually can have such an impact of someone's behaviour. Whether that's to pick up the phone, click a link or make an application for study. I love the human behaviour aspects of comms and marketing. The challenge is hitting the right mark so that your message stands out from the crowd. But with access to so much data and insights, the challenge is less hit and miss now thankfully! 

Describe an average day in your work life.
Fairly ordinary to be honest! Usually checking emails, then meet with the team to check on how things are progressing with the campaigns, meetings with suppliers or internal stakeholders, a bit of lunch followed by either more meetings, reviewing content before going live or drafting the next project/campaign plan. Oh and lots of tea and coffee in between! 

Describe a piece of work you think is particularly interesting/you are particularly proud of.
One of my career highlights is launching the first ever higher education institution campus at Wembley Stadium. How two very different worlds came together! 

Do you have any advice for other professionals in your field or hoping to work in your field?
The education sector is no more difficult to get into than most sectors. So always aim to demonstrate the value you offer / what you can bring to the institution or department, and as always, do your research so that you can show you understand the challenges and issues that are being faced at that time. 

For anyone starting out, my advice is put your hand up for as much as possible. It's such a wonderful way to gain access to projects or people that perhaps you wouldn't otherwise have access to, as well as be able to experiment and find your craft. 

Keeping up to date with latest developments in the sector is also important. WonkHE is a brilliant platform about higher education policy, analysis and debate. It provides a great insight into the sector with a variety of topics including from professional services perspectives, which is what communications and marketing are a part of within the university infrastructure. 

Education marketing and comms is a rewarding sector to work in. Some of the best and most notable creations/ inventions/ cures have come from a university so being able to tell those stories and share with audiences is not only fascinating to gain insight into but also rewarding when it reaches audiences far and wide. Curiosity is inherent in university learning and research so I always try and reflect this myself in my work and that of my teams. Be curious and experiment. If it fails, learn and move on to try something else.