Corporate or Consulting?

When going into digital marketing, or even general marketing and advertising, you have quite a few options for where you could work. You could work on the digital marketing team for a larger corporation, or you could work for a digital marketing consulting firm, similar to an advertising agency. Sometimes companies rely solely on these firms for all their digital marketing, and other times a company might just use these companies to manage their Facebook page or update their Pinterest.

Which do you think you would prefer? Do you see yourself working with one company, creating strategies around their products/services, analyzing those strategies, and repeating that process? Or do you see yourself working on different projects, working with different companies, and having to be creative enough to understand many different companies and their customer bases?

Of course, each has their advantages and disadvantages. If you really want to go into digital marketing but you're not sure which side you would prefer, you should see your school's career advisor and try to set up an informational interview with someone from each side so you can get an even better picture of what working for a corporation and an agency is really like!

Get Involved #1- You Meet New People

Last week I posted an overview about why you should join a student organization at your college or university. Today I will expand on the first reason I mentioned, that you get the opportunity to meet new people.

When you're in school, you really don't think that your classmates are more than friends or acquaintances. In reality, these are people who are interested in the same field as you (assuming you're in a business class, or another class specific to your major). One day you could be working with them, and they could even be potential job leads, or vice versa. Either way, business students know that connections and relationships are essential to success. You can't be a businessperson in isolation!

So where do student organizations enter this equation? They are the perfect way to meet people in your area of study, and since you won't be busy with lectures in class, you'll actually be able to have fun and get to know them. Most importantly, if you're on a commuter campus, student organizations are a great way to spend some time with your classmates. Instead of just going to school and returning home, you can get involved and make lifelong friendships!

The University of Michigan- Dearborn offers many organizations to get involved in, and they range from typical university sponsored organizations such as student government and the student newspaper, to social and professional Greek organizations, and a whole host of other recognized student organizations. Specifically in the College of Business, there are organizations for every area of interest. These include: American Marketing Association, ITM Club, Supply Chain Club, Beta Alpha Psi (Accounting, Finance, ITM), and SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise).

Get Involved!

Before you start your college career and when you're visiting universities, you might here some current students talk about student organizations.  You might here them say that you should get involved your first year of school, and they might say they got involved as sophomores and regret not getting involved right away.  And you, like me, might think, nah, what's the point?  I'll get involved as a sophomore or junior.  Are you thinking like that?

Don't.

I know everything that students say about getting involved in student organizations is going to sound cliche, and you still might be in a phase where involvement "isn't cool" or maybe you're just too shy to even think about joining an organization by yourself (I guess that was my problem!).  Let me tell you, most student organizations want to have as many active members as possible, and if you're willing to put in some effort, they will fully embrace you, so don't be scared!

I'm going to give you a few reasons why you should get involved, and over the next few days I'll expand on these reasons:

1. You meet people.
2. You get the opportunity to help others.
3. You can explore your career options.
4. You can get experience for your resume.

Most of what I am going to discuss is focusing on major-specific clubs.  While social clubs are a great way to get involved and meet people too, clubs that focus around business, engineering, medicine, etc. are going to provide you with more valuable experience.  Get involved in whatever you're interested in and what you can manage with your schedule, but one club should be geared toward your major.

An Executive Perspective

Last Friday I had the privilege of sitting at a table with some executives and managers with connections to the University of Michigan- Dearborn.  This strange and scary activity called networking, I suppose. As the only student at the table, the businessmen were all interested in what I do, my major, and other questions students should learn to expect when networking (I'll post more on that another time!).  And I told them the usual, I'm a marketing major, what student organizations I'm involved in, etc. etc.

I also mentioned that I am currently taking a digital marketing position, and that immediately interested some of the men at the table.  One went on to explain to me that the digital marketing department at his company was just starting to grow.  All of them agreed that digital was the way the world is going.  I'm sure at some point they were excited to hear that the University of Michigan- Dearborn was introducing a digital marketing degree.

I was pleasantly surprised by this conversation, because I did not expect such a positive reaction!  I used to think that digital marketing was just a niche, and a digital marketing degree was limiting.  My opinion changes daily, and while I still haven't chosen to change my major, I think students interested in digital marketing definitely have to take into account their options for their college degree.  Don't settle for an average degree!  There are great universities with digital marketing degrees out there, and if you want to be the best, a great start is with a great education.