The Interview

I had my informational interview last Tuesday. Upon entering the building's spacious marble lobby, I took the elevator to the 20th floor. When I got off the elevator, the first thing I noticed was the large, silver letters that spelled out the company's name on the wall. As I walked further inside, I noticed the agency had a very trendy, modern look to it - the clean wooden-panel floors; the long, sleek red couches; and the glass-enclosed meeting room. The receptionist told me I could have a seat while I waited for the HR person to come greet me. I could not stop staring into the meeting room (where there was a meeting going on) and thinking, "I wonder what they are discussing in there."

After about 20 minutes of looking into the meeting room and leafing through an agency book, the HR specialist Mary (name has been changed) came to greet me. Mary shook my hand and led me to her office.

The interview went pretty smoothly. We first had a small discussion about school and some of the teachers I had. She then looked at my resumé and asked me about some of my individual job experience. I spent a lot of time talking about working for AdLab, my college's student-run advertising agency.

It was then my turn to ask her questions. I asked her questions regarding new business, employee motivation and employee skill workshops/programs.

I have been so preoccupied with school lately that I have not really been job searching. More updates next week - I turn 22 Monday!

Updates Coming Soon

I have been so busy the past week. Final exams are coming up and final projects have to be completed. I will update about my informational interview soon. It went pretty well!

Preparation for the Real World

So here it was - an absolutely gorgeous Easter holiday and what am I doing? Sitting inside, contemplating what to write for my positioning and planning analysis. Basically I had to pick a product, brand or service and extract a positioning statement from one of its advertisements. Furthermore, I had to write thoughts on the different planning techniques that may have been used to create the advertisement. For those of you who are not familiar with advertising lingo, account planning is basically consumer research. You have to get inside the mind of the prospect and figure out why they enjoy or dislike a certain product/service. This can be done through interviews, focus groups, ethnographic studies and more.

Back when I picked advertising as a major, I considered going into account planning. Then I figured it was not really my cup of tea, and I thought about ad management. Well, my professor told us that ad management basically is account planning. Because you really have to understand certain consumer insights to ensure that your positioning of a product/service is accurate.

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I realize the first couple of blogs I wrote were me in a complaining mode. Once I get past this rush of schoolwork, I will start updating on the job situation. Updates on the informational interview coming this Thursday!

So Much Work

It is so difficult balancing school work with finding a job. Besides AdLab duties, major projects for my grad-level Ad Management class, lots of PR reading to catch up on and yearbook rosters to finish typing up, I have to find a job. Sometimes I do not even know where to start.

Informational interview coming up Tuesday! Off to do my Google Alert search on the company.

Informational Interview

Well, an HR specialist from an agency actually e-mailed me back and invited me in for an informational interview next week. So I have to fix up my resumé to make sure it is "perfect."

I learned so much this last year about applying for jobs. One important thing I failed to do in the past was continuously follow up with some HR people about my application. They get hundreds, even thousands, of applications, so this is a really important step. I realized you should try to e-mail them every so often (not so much to the point where you are stalking them) asking about the status of your application. Also, try to obtain an informational interview if there are no job openings at the company you are interested in.

I am crossing my fingers that this interview my lead to something!

Getting Ready to Find a Job

Given the fact that finding a job is so difficult nowadays, I decided to start a blog with my thoughts about getting ready to jump into the real world. Technically, I am not a "recent graduate" yet, but I thought the title was appropriate given the fact I will be graduating in about a month. So, before I go into detail, let me update you on my college experiences until now.

I am currently a senior advertising major at Boston University. I am very involved with AdLab, our on-campus, student-run advertising agency. I began as an Account Executive my junior year and was recently promoted to the position of Account Supervisor. My main responsibilities include supervising eight client account teams to ensure there are as little problems as possible. I have worked on a variety of accounts ranging from record labels to non-profit organizations. I really enjoy what I do and hope to work in an ad agency as a career.

Lately, I have been searching extensively for job opportunities at various agencies, but so many are laying off as a result of companies cutting back on their marketing budgets, causing agencies to lose major accounts. I recently attended an Agency Night at my school and learned some tips when it comes to applying for jobs.

Anyways, I am sure many of you feel discouraged. Do your homework. Try to network with some of your professors, and see if they know anyone in the field who may be able to help you. Make sure you really understand the company, including any recent news. Try to get an informational interview if you can. Get your resumé and cover letter critiqued.

I may have an interview, but it will be strictly informational.