Resume
I’ve been earning money since I was in middle school, babysitting a lot of people. I also got to be part of a teen program that paired me with a mentor while in high school. I was the first photographer for my high school football team because of this.
My first official job (W-2 included) was on campus as a freshman at university. The jobs I’ve worked since have given me experience in social media, marketing, and management. I’ve held a couple of retail and customer service jobs which I’ll lump together below. I’m currently working on campus again, only this time as a full time employee instead of a student worker. Go ahead and check out my LinkedIn for a summary, or scroll down for my views on each job.
Customer Service
As I mentioned, I got my first job as a freshman at university where I worked as an assistant at the gym on campus. I welcomed people into the building, checked student IDs, and rented out sporting equipment.
I also worked a couple of retail jobs later on. I worked at the photo lab at Costco when it opened up in town and I worked at Books-A-Million for a few weeks before the pandemic hit.
You might be wondering why I took jobs in retail when I had degrees and experience in my field. Well, partially because I had a limited view of what I could do with my first degree when I graduated and partially because I live in an area that isn’t super saturated with entry-level opportunities in my field. Plus, I actually liked working with Costco and Books-A-Million. I love being around books, and the pace of the job helped shifts go by quickly.
In these jobs I learned the importance of customer relations and how to work in difficult situations. Knowing how to work with people has been an insanely useful skill, not just with work, but in everyday life.
My First Marketing Job
My first job working in my field (marketing) was also on campus. When I was working as an assistant I heard that the department had it’s own in-house marketing team, so I talked to my bosses about it and got transferred. That’s one thing I love about campus culture at my university, everyone is so willing to help you.
So, I moved to the marketing team where I worked with the graphic designers as well as the Rec Sports management team. I was in charge of social media content creation and I came up with “the mighty RecSquad” theme for a 2015 event which created superhero personas of the top management team. I even acted as an event photographer for events.
When I first started in this position, top management talked about creating video content for the social media channels. It was still pretty early on in my social media experience, but I knew they were right. So, I taught myself how to do some basic video editing and I started creating a video series interviewing the personal trainers, showing proper workout technique, etc. This is now expected as part of the job.
Internship
In my senior year, I interned at a local ad agency: Calzone and Associates. Here, I learned more about social media management and I got my first taste of social media management software with Hootsuite. My main focus was writing social media content and email newsletters. I also assisted with the odds and ends of campaign management.
I worked on the EatLafayette and ShopLafayette campaigns as well as a local spa account. I loved working on these campaigns and accounts, truly. However, I decided not to go full time. I thought at the time that it wasn’t what I wanted to do.
In hindsight, the smart choice would have been to take this job full time with them. It would have started my career off and I would be farther along than I am currently. But, I don’t regret it, really. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to earn my MBA the way that I did, I wouldn’t be at the job I’m at now, and all that other what-if stuff.
Management
Long story short, I graduated with my degree in advertising, worked at Costco for a while, came back to school, then enrolled in the MBA program. I had run out of the financial aid I was getting and could no longer work toward the undergraduate degrees that I was enrolled in. However, I wasn’t ready to be done with school. The Office of STEP Support on campus offered me a pretty undeniable opportunity: a graduate assistantship. AKA: I work for them, they pay my tuition and a monthly stipend.
As a graduate assistant, I managed student workers on campus. I created their schedules around classes, interviewed students to be hired, and developed and implemented a disciplinary system.
My boss in this job was super supportive of the “for students, by students” mentality for the office. So, I learned to be a leader pretty quickly. Most of the office staff came to me (and sometime still do) with questions.
Writing
Currently, I work as a digital content strategist and that involves a lot of content writing. I’ve always had a love for writing, but it really starting taking the spotlight in this last year. I love writing fiction, particularly fantasy and science fiction, but I’m also fascinated by how any kind of writing creates a relationship with an audience.
I’ve been on my current team since March of 2020 - the beginning of the pandemic - so my experience has been a little different than it was supposed to be. I’ve been working from home from the start, putting my organization skills to the test.
In my current position, I focus a lot on digital strategy. Specifically for a website. Meaning I am creating and curating content to match voice, tone, and SEO standards.
I've posted a few updates on my blog since we launched last year.