People profile : Brand Manager – DBA Tools

Name: Claire Brooking

Education: BA (Hons) Modern and Medieval Languages, University of Cambridge

Position at Red Gate: Brand Manager – DBA Tools

Start date: September 2006

First job ever: We're going back a few years now…it was a vacation job, working as a legal secretary in a conveyancing firm for property in France

Before you arrived at Red Gate what did you do?

After spending a year abroad in Würzburg for my degree in German and French, I had not only developed my language skills, but also greater self-reliance, and confidence in interacting with others. This experience encouraged me to apply for work experience at an international publishing firm during vacations. I then came back to Cambridge and juggled writing dissertations with playing tennis and trying out yoga before a short, sharp term of revision for finals.

The requirement of my degree to get to grips with a lot of diverse information in a short space of time helped persuade me that I could work with SQL Server and .NET, two areas quite distinct from the literature and philosophy I studied for my degree.

What does your job involve on a day-to-day basis?

I've always got several projects running and the direction of each project can vary greatly. I split my time between marketing tasks for SQL Backup and the editorial work I carry out for Simple-Talk, our online technical journal. This can involve researching competing campaigns, commissioning articles, liaising with suppliers and designers or even putting together mini screen tutorials for software.

I am also building a German language website; this is an ongoing project, as information has to be kept in sync with our English language site. One of my favourite aspects of my work is filming for our website. I recently went to a conference where I filmed a number of customers talking about our products. I am also working on shooting and editing a series of videos on our tools, so keep an eye out on the Red Gate website.

What do you need to be a Marketer?

An ability to manage your time, mixed with determination and flexibility! With so many projects running all at once, you have to be able to make decisions in many different directions, from corresponding with clients and suppliers to communicating with team members to take projects through to finish. When more ideas are added to the scope of projects as time goes on, you need to judge when to make room for those ideas.

It's also essential to be creative as part of a small team. We need to come up with plans for highlighting our products so that we inspire and capture the attention of our audience. Keeping an open mind is an important part of this process.

Why did you choose Red Gate?

I first met Red Gate at a careers fair in the summer after spotting a notice for graduate positions on my university's careers website. The job description was ideally suited to the skills I hoped to develop, with plenty of room for me to take the role in a direction I wanted. Red Gate has always encouraged its employees to take training courses and to take the initiative. This open and supportive atmosphere really appealed to me, alongside the friendliness and down-to-earth outlook of everyone I met at interview.

What are your favourite Red Gate perks?

The generous 'Feel Good Fund' is an obvious perk, as it has supported so many trips out as a company, whether it involved punting, bowling, boat trips, or meals out. Flexi-time hours let you adapt your day to your style of working, and we have the most expansive free breakfast cereal range I've ever encountered outside a supermarket.

What's your most memorable Red Gate experience so far?

It would have to be taking part in the trip to Seattle for the PASS conference in 2006. I felt privileged to be participating in an event where one of the phrases I most frequently encountered during the week was 'Red Gate rocks!' The conference gave us long days, but we also had one day at either end of the trip to explore Seattle. Five of us traveled out to the Snoqualmie waterfalls where snow had just fallen and also to the Olympia national park with its temperate rainforests. The entire week was an awesome experience.