Claire Wallace
LinkedIn
Graduation Year: May, 2016
Major: Advertising
Minor: Business
Hometown: Moline, Illinois
Campus Activites:
- Alpha Phi Sorority
- AAF
- University Tees
Hobbies: GoPro-ing, exercising, shopping, photography, traveling
Marketing & Business Development Intern - VSA Partners
What were your duties?
- Collaborated with Biz Dev Team to strategically prepare decks for pitch presentations and client briefings
- Developed and implemented entire digital marketing strategy for internal use, including social media and website
- Worked with marketing team to write press releases, organize case studies and plan internal events
What did you most enjoy about your internship?
I never ever felt like an intern. I was always working on client-facing presentations or content strategy that would go public on our website or social media. I also was able to interact with senior level positions on an almost daily basis with the CMO being on my team of 6. It was great to feel of use to the company and be able to give input that was listened to.
What was the most difficult aspect of your internship?
Agency life is so great and fun but that also means long, endless hours. On my second week I was already putting in close to 50 hours at the office.
How did your experience at Illinois and in the College of Media prepare you for your internship?
We are very lucky to have the Advertising program that we have here. I felt prepared for the internship based on what I've learned and everything I've taken advantage of that the college offers us. Whether it be class projects I've put on my website or attending networking events, the program is able to provide us with opportunities to gain beneficial experience.
How has your internship prepared you for a career?VSA is a mid-size agency so I was never working on only one account and I got to touch a lot of different areas of the business, which made my experience so much more fulfilling. It's not very often that a new business role is given to an entry level or intern position and because I was lucky enough to have this role, I got to learn not only an incredible amount about VSA, but about the industry as well. From researching competitors to better position ourselves for pitches to learning all of the capabilities within the business to use that to our advantage to win a new account, I really covered a lot of territory in 3 months. Overall, I feel like a very well rounded candidate to start my career in the "real world".
What recommendations do you have for other students about doing an internship?Don't give up and believe in yourself when it comes to getting an internship. I submitted a crazy number of resumes, had countless interviews, and was told no a million times before I heard a yes. I couldn't be happier with where I ended up and am very thankful that I landed a position at VSA.
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