 For AD/PR Club’s second meeting of the Spring semester, we welcomed Carol Cornman, President at PRISM. She gave a fun, helpful, and insightful presentation to provide tips, tricks, and advice on resumes, cover letters, and interviewing. Carol is a Penn State Alumna who majored in marketing during her time in Happy Valley. Speaking very highly of the Penn State community, she is proud to be able to come back (virtually) to meet and help guide our members to a more successful future. Members were able to gain insight on how they should write, structure, and present their materials when applying for jobs or internships. Carol went over her top pieces of advice for writing each piece while answering any questions from our members on the topic. At one point she even gave a shout out to Nittany Lion Career Services as that was how she landed her first ever job post grad at Ford Motor Company!
Diving into more of the content specifics of what she covered, starting off with cover letters, Carol gave her top tips on how to write the perfect one. By advising our members on how to execute the perfect intro, body, and conclusion, this ensures all the necessary information is there in each company specific cover letter. Some of these cover letter pieces of advice included:
These are just a few of the many great pieces of advice that Carol gladly shared with the club. Thank you so much for speaking to our members, we are all excited to polish up our own resumes and cover letters to land those jobs and interviews!  The Advertising and Public Relations club kicked-off our Spring 2021 semester with an amazing first meeting! The club welcomed back a professional panel of four alumni of the club to answer some questions that the current members have about the Advertising and Public Relations fields. The panel consisted of: Jill Beitter: Club President from 2019-2020, Media Strategist at Giant Spoon Jamie Chou: Club VP 2018-2019, Junior Strategic Planner at BBDO Emma Karlewicz: Club VP 2019-2020, Multichannel Media Coordinator at SSCG Karly Kneidinger: Club President 2018-2019, Assistant Account Executive at Havas Tonic The panel did a great job answering all of the questions our members had submitted and gave great insight on the job and internship search as well as life post grad. Some of the most important takeaways from the meeting included advice on internships, networking, and landing a job. All four panelists agreed that having internship experience is key, as it allows you to have a feel for who and where you will be working. Jaime Chou said that from her experience, “The worst thing that could happen with an internship is that you learn that position is not for you. But that is why you have internships, to learn.” Networking was also mentioned a lot throughout the meeting as a crucial part of landing a job or internship. Jill Beitter discussed how it was through networking and keeping in contact with people she had met in the industry that she landed her full time position at Giant Spoon. Another piece of networking advice from the panel was to fully use all of your resources such as sending a message on LinkedIn or sending an email to an old boss to check up on how the company is doing. These little steps can make you stand out from the rest. Lastly, the panel talked about landing a job. All four alum recently started their positions, so they all know the struggles with finding a job or internship during a pandemic. They mentioned to our members that no matter how hard the job search is or what the circumstances are, if the hard work is put in, the results will follow. AD/PR club wants to thank all four panelists for taking the time to join the meeting and answer all of the questions asked by the current members. They will all make great contacts for AD/PR members to reach out to when looking for internships, full time positions, or just professional advice. It was great having them all back to visit the club one more time! We Are! Check out the Panelists Intro Slides below to learn more!      We welcomed Lauren Hiznay for a fun last meeting to close out the Fall 2020 semester! Lauren graduated from Wake Forest University in 2013 and is currently an Account Director at 5W Public Relations. Our members were excited to get the chance to get some insight on a large Public Relations Firm and hear from a professional in the field. 5W Public Relations is one of the top 15 independent US PR firms based out of New York City. Some of their representative clients include Amazon, Vizio, Sparkling ICE, SodaStream, and It’s a 10. Lauren sits in the B2B client group at 5W. One of the main questions that our members had was “What is an average day like as a Public Relations professional?” Lauren answered that by saying, “Everyday is different. One day some news can break and you have to change your entire day to work on that news story. To put it in simple terms, it's FUN!”
Lauren was actually an English major when she was at Wake Forest, and did not get into PR until later in her collegiate life. She was intrigued by the industry, and it was through a ton of resume reviews, interview practice, and networking that she was able to land her dream job at 5W. The PR world is one where you have to work hard, but also have a ton of fun. “I’ve done a lot of crazy things, and you really never know where your career will take you.” Lauren has shared the red carpet with celebrities, traveled to unique destinations, been present for airings of popular television shows, and the list goes on. After learning about Lauren and 5WPR, she was able to answer some of our members questions. One student asked, “What would you say the pros and cons are of working at a smaller firm opposed to a larger agency? Would you recommend starting off at a larger agency or smaller firm?” Lauren answered by saying, “My experience starting at a smaller firm was great. I worked with a stellar team and was managed by really smart people who cared about my growth and teaching me everything I need to know. I think there is a pro to a smaller team if you find the right team and a great fit for you, and you’ll find that out in the interview process. It really comes down to where you find your right fit.” We want to thank Lauren so much for taking the time to meet with AD/PR club to give great insight on the PR world and 5W Public Relations to close out our fall semester. One piece of advice from Lauren we can all benefit from is, “If you keep an open mind, you can do anything.”  We loved having recent Penn State Bellisario Alumna, Jamie Sellinger, spend time and offer guidance to our club members. She gave an awesome presentation all about her personal journey finding a job and great advice on job hunting after graduation for all of our members. Jamie graduated from Penn State in 2018 with an Advertising major and minors in Spanish and Global and International Studies. While at PSU, Jamie was a big fan of the soccer team and very involved with THON and even stood as a dancer her senior year.
Starting out in college, Jamie was not exactly sure what route she wanted to go with her studies. So why did she choose advertising? Watching her parents, who are all involved in the industry, have such an amazing time in their jobs really inspired her passion. She explained to us that advertising is a very rewarding field. “Being able to watch my commercial come up on TV, be like ‘Hey! That's my commercial!' is a moment you will never forget,” Jamie proudly told us. There is always something to be excited or proud of when working in this fast-paced industry, which is so important for our members to understand. The AD/PR Club wants to highlight how rewarding, fun, and exciting this field of study can be, and Jamie was able to show us just that. When talking a bit about her career path so far, Jamie has been nothing but successful. She started out as an intern for The Female Quotient. From there, she moved on to an internship as a Hospitality Guide for the Rio 2016 Olympics through NBC. From this experience, she was able to meet an amazing group of people, who she is still in contact with today. After this, she interned at NBC News as a Digital Planning Intern which is where she first dipped her toes into the advertising field. From all of these unique experiences, Jamie now landed her dream job at NBCUniversal. Jamie left us by saying, “The biggest lesson I have learned is you have to keep in touch with the people you meet along the way. I am here to help you. Once a Penn Stater, always a Penn Stater.”  The AD/PR club was very lucky to have Gina Asaro-Collura, a Creative Director at FCB Health, join us and share her “Advertising + Me” presentation. President, Lea Moynihan, has actually been able to work with Gina through her past internship. Gina was able to share some insight into the creative side at a pharma advertising agency where her presentation was very interactive and got all of our members engaged! She started off asking the question, “which came first, the advertising campaign or pop culture.” Our members decided that pop culture came first, and Gina agreed. With this, she used the example of the “viral sensation of the Ocean Spray guy,” which we all have seen on TikTok. The Ocean Spray man posted a TikTok of himself skateboarding with a bottle of Ocean Spray, became famous, and is now used to promote Ocean Spray frequently. Gina said that “when you come up with a big idea that's really interesting and highly targeted, it CAN have an impact that you’re hoping for.” One thing that she wanted to point out was the saying that culture influences advertising influences culture. She provided video examples including The Great Schlep from the 2008 Obama election, Google’s Year in Review, Snickers "You’re Not You When You’re Hungry" campaign, and Nike’s "Dream Crazy" campaign. It was really awesome to see several campaigns most members know about being broken down creatively to really understand why those companies decided to execute them.
Gina also discussed her position at FCB Health and shared some campaigns that she has worked on personally at the company. Currently, she's working with a pharmaceutical brand that is using a flying pig as their mascot and Gina stated that “I have never in my life said I’ve been able to work with a flying pig before, but that is the fun in this job.” When sharing other feel good campaigns that she worked, these included one for down syndrome and another for color blindness. All in all, Gina really encouraged us not to count out pursuing a position in the healthcare advertising field for our job and internship search since it offers a different perspective of the industry! Thanks again Gina for coming to the AD/PR Club for the night and sharing your creative wisdom! The Advertising and Public Relations Club started out spring semester with an amazing first meeting! The club welcomed back a professional panel of four alumna of the club to answer some questions that the current members have about the advertising and public relations fields. The panel consisted of: Jill Beitter: Former 2019-2020 club President currently at Giant Spoon as a Media Strategist Jamie Chou: Former 2018-2019 club VP currently at BBDO as a Junior Strategic Planner Emma Karlewicz: Former 2019-2020 club VP currently at SSCG as a Multichannel Media Coordinator Karly Kneidinger: Former club President currently at Havas Tonic as an Assistant Account Executive The panel did a great job answering all of the questions our members had submitted and gave great insight into the job and internship search as well as life post grad. Some of the most important takeaways from the meeting included advice on internships, networking, and landing a job. All four panelists agreed that having internship experience is key, as it allows you to have a feel for who and where you will be working. Jamie Chou said that from her experience, “The worst thing that could happen with an internship is that you learn that position is not for you. But that is why you have internships, to learn.” Networking was also mentioned a lot throughout the meeting as a crucial part of landing a job or internship. Jill Beitter mentioned that it was through networking and keeping in contact with people she had met in the industry that she landed her full time position at Giant Spoon. Also, a piece of networking advice from the panel was to fully use all of your resources such as sending a message on LinkedIn or an email to an old boss to check up on how the company is doing. These little steps can make you stand out from the rest. Lastly, the panel talked about landing a job. All four alum recently started their positions, so they all know the struggles with landing a position during a pandemic. They mentioned to our members that no matter how hard the job search is or what the circumstances are, if the hard work is put in, the results will follow. The AD/PR club wants to thank all four panelists for taking the time to join the meeting and answer all of the questions asked by the current members. They will all make great contacts for AD/PR members to reach out to when looking for internships, full time positions, or just professional advice. It was great having them all back to visit the club one more time! We Are! Check out our panelists Intro Slides below...      The AD/PR Club was thrilled to have Meaghan Kristol, Lead Corporate Recruiter from Collabera Inc., speak to our club members this semester! Meaghan has spoken to the club in previous years, so it was very exciting to have her back with us.
Collabera Inc. is a Global IT Staffing and Services Firm that has services from staff augmentation, direct hire recruitment, IT services, and learning solutions. They have been ranked as one of the best staffing firms to work for for 9 years in a row by SIA. Although this company is not directly related to Advertising or Public Relations, Meaghan reminded us that, “Whatever career you go into, you’re going to need sales skills no matter what.” At Collabera, they have many appealing opportunities for anyone such as their Associate Account Management Position. This is the company's entry-level starting position. After much mentorship and learning, the position transitions into an Account Management position. “This is where you will really be wining and dining the clients,” Meghan tells us. She had started in the Associate Account Management position herself, and has now climbed to become one of the standout recruiters for the company. Meaghan spends a lot of time interviewing potential clients, so after countless good and bad interviews, she has a well-rounded understanding of what makes someone stand out in an interview. Some of the key points she shared were focused on how to nail an interview as well as some pieces of advice on the transition to online interviews and meetings. “Virtual interviewing exploded overnight! That means that we need to be ready and have the proper etiquette for it right away!” Here are a few of the insights Meaghan shared with us:
 Penn State AD/PR club recently hosted Jerry Rizzo, Senior Communications Manager at Panasonic. He was able to give a great presentation which he titled, “Unexpected.” During his presentation, he provided insight on how he landed a position at Panasonic and his untraditional way of getting there. Jerry prompted, "We are all on different paths and no matter where we are right now or where we start our journey, we will end up somewhere we belong."
Jerry graduated from Penn State where he changed majors from Education to Communications. He went into the major not really knowing too much about the field, but ended up leaving with a passion for everything communications. His career started with a position in Digital Media with the Philadelphia 76ers, moved to a position in Public Relations with Verizon, Employee Communications with Honeywell, and is now working in Employee Engagement and Brand Reputation with Panasonic. Over the years, Jerry has gained vast experience while working in numerous environments, starting out focusing on social media in the sports industry and shifting to a communications position with an electronics company. When Jerry considers working for a brand, he looks for areas where he can be an asset as well as learn from coworkers or the brand itself. It is important to have a continuously growing passion for the field, the ability to contribute to a company in some way, and gain valuable knowledge from your job. When reflecting on what he would tell his 18-year old self right now if he could, Jerry said, “Make sure to focus more on what the present is teaching you. There is always something to be extracted from what you are experiencing right now.” Additionally, Jerry also advised us to “not abandon the basics and start understanding the importance of intangibles.” Finally, Jerry left us by saying, “remember to expect the unexpected.”  On Monday September 14th, we hosted Penn State alumna Lauren Wexler to talk about her experience in the ever-changing world of advertising. She graduated in 2003 with a degree in Advertising and minor in American Studies. Wexler has been in the Advertising industry for over 17 years and currently works for TikTok on the US Agency Partner’s Team.
Lauren shared stories about her journey starting as a postgraduate student all the way to how she ended up where she is today. After Penn State, Wexler actually attended law school for a period of time until realizing that she had a stronger passion for the ad-world. Starting her career off in the agency side of ad, she got a position at Deutsch as Assistant Media Planner. She then moved on and got jobs at other agencies including Pedone and Lipman. After a few years, Wexler then switched to the brand and client side of advertising. Her vast portfolio consists of positions such as VP of Global Media at Revlon as well as Senior Director of Global Media and Partnerships at TripAdvisor! While still in her job at TripAdvisor during the early 2020 months, the Covid-19 Pandemic hit and unfortunately Lauren had to leave the position. On the bright side, this allowed her the amazing opportunity of taking on an exciting job at TikTok in Sales and working at another company she admires! Throughout Lauren's journey working in unique agency, brand/client, and sales positions, she continues to learn about herself along with how the ad field is truly rewarding and invigorating. In each position, she was able to gain invaluable knowledge to take with her moving forward in her career and now is able to share with us, which is exactly what she did!
On behalf of the AD/PR Club, we had such an incredible time with Lauren and can’t thank her enough for sharing her story and providing us some valuable pieces of advice! If you would like to connect with Lauren, you can find her on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenemilywexler/ |
AuthorHaley Konkol |
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