Spring semester hitting its midway point is the cue for summer internship application deadlines and for interviews to begin! A couple weeks ago, I had an interview for a summer internship position at my dream advertising agency, Digitas. Digitas is a worldwide advertising agency that is not only known for its awesome list of huge clients, but also for pioneering digital advertising. They have offices all over the world, but one of its biggest North America offices is located in downtown Boston, a convenient 20-minute T ride away. I was anxious and excited to be given the opportunity to interview, but was also nervous because I was informed by human resources that upon my arrival, I would be meeting with four of their employees in back to back interviews. I did my research on the agency as well as on my interviewees and discovered that one of them was actually a recent COM alumnus. While this made me feel a bit at ease, I also felt the need to impress her even more since she would be familiar with my background and could very well be tougher on me.
As she walked into the room, she greeted me with a warming smile, but wasted no time getting down to business. She clearly had read my resume, as her first remark after initial introductions was that she realized we had been on BU’s National Student Advertising Competition Team (NSAC) together over a year ago. After sharing with each other our experiences with NSAC, we realized that we probably never really met because my first semester with NSAC was her last semester not only with NSAC, but also with BU as she was graduating early and had a job offer waiting for her at the agency.
She came prepared with questions about my resume and coursework that were so different than the rest of my interviewees as it was clear she, as a COM alumnus, was plenty familiar with my background. We talked about the courses I took, discovering that she took many of the same ones as well, and asked me detailed questions about the projects I worked on, as she had done the same ones only a couple years ago.
Interviewing with a COM alumnus was such an amazing experience that I hope everyone is lucky enough have. It was awesome to be able to talk about my experiences and goals with someone who I had so much common ground with. It was almost as if it was easier to talk about my experiences, expanding upon them in more detail, and convey what I wanted out of my future simply because it seemed as if she already knew me and the environment, mindset, and general background that I was coming from.
Even if I didn’t land the internship, it was still great to make the connection as I’ve come to discover that COM alumni are really one of the greatest resources out there. I highly recommend networking and putting yourself out there as early as you are comfortable doing so because it will only help you in the long run. Even if that is just having coffee with a COM student who is a year or two older than you, chances are that they will be working in the real world when it is time for you to start thinking about it.
A week ago I was offered a spot in their summer internship program and gladly accepted. I’m so excited to have this amazing opportunity and look forward to learning and working alongside BU alumni. Stay tuned for updates in the summer months about my summer in Boston interning with Digitas!
