The Center for Digital Engagement hosted yet another amazing panel discussion for the current interns this summer that was focused on finding a career in digital marketing.
Digital marketing has become a highly diverse field that is changing the way companies do business. Companies must learn to tailor their strategies in order to reach their target markets. The interns listened to insights and best practices from digital marketing professionals and will be utilizing this knowledge to help them find careers in digital marketing.
The panel was moderated by Kim Brown, senior marketing manager at Duo Security. Panelists included
- Angelina Miller, Agency Development Manager at Google
- Jenn Hayman, Director of Marketing at Zingermann’s family of stores
- Matt Laurin, Director of Marketing at Rankings.io.
Matt Laurin
One of the key things Matt emphasized to the group was the importance of networking. Utilizing LinkedIn groups to connect to more people can really build your professional network and kickstart your professional career!
“Networking really helped out, especially online. Growing your network on LinkedIn is so important. You can reach out to people you want to be surrounded by, places you are interested in working at, and overall just connecting in order to get information from others. I still do it today. It’s invaluable.”
Commenting and answering questions posted by others in your field can also really help to make those connections and prepare you for professional conversations.
Jenn comes from a broad marketing background and took an unconventional path to get to her current digital marketing position. She used her journalism degree to gain a unique perspective for her position and brought a lot of creative ideas to it. She is something of a self-starter, where she had to make her own opportunities to get where she is now. This makes her the perfect fit for Zingermann’s because marketing for so many different kinds of companies in the same family requires a certain level of flexibility! When asked about what kind of impact she had in her position, she responded that it wasn’t always easy to tell.
“Having methods to measure your successes is really important. That way, you’ll always know what ways you can improve.”
Jenn also provided some great insight for students preparing for upcoming job interviews.
“When you’re interviewing with someone, make sure that you interview them almost as much as they’re interviewing you. If you do, you’ll know if you’ll be even more comfortable in the position.”
Angelina Miller
Angelina began her digital media career with a Business degree at Eastern. From there, she took initiative and built her resume up with a series of increasingly impressive jobs that lead her to her current position at Google. On the way, she learned a lot of skills that were directly applicable to any job in digital marketing. One specific skill that is particularly transferable is leadership.
“Working in digital marketing is a team based effort. It’s important to work with your team and lead junior members and help them make a significant positive impact.”
We also discussed how the digital marketing industry is constantly in flux. There are constantly new technological advancements and changes to the digital economy. Angelina had this to say about embracing change in the workplace:
“Everything is constantly changing for the better. Don’t ever say ‘this is how we have always done it.”
The Center for Digital Engagement had a great time hosting these esteemed guests and having them speak with our Summer Clinic Interns! We’re looking forward to speaking with some of the minds at the forefront of artificial intelligence next week.
Make sure to follow them on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/mlaurin
https://twitter.com/angelinaemiller