You’re Cool… Getting a Little Warmer… Warmer… You’re Hot, You’re on Fire!
By Asher Bitz ♠ It can often be a struggle for college graduates or seniors to figure out what exactly they want to do. It seems like you have a hundred different people telling you to pursue a different path. You have an idea of something you may want to do, then your parents might kick that door down and say, “Why would you ever want to do that?!” I know you better than anyone. You’d be better at this.”
Then back at it, you head to school, meet with your professor who says, “No, based on your grades, you’d be much better at that.” Then you go to the career office, and they say, “Why would you want to work here? Work there instead!” In reality, the only way you will figure out what you really want to do is through trial and error. It may seem daunting and intimidating, but trying new things is the only way you will find out what you like. You may fail a few times, but stick it out and eventually you’ll get warmer and warmer and then finally you’ll have it: that thing that really interests you enough to see yourself doing for the rest of your life.
There is no exact time frame for this process. It took nearly a year and a half and I’m still not positive about what I want to do, but I’m getting warmer. Prior to EMA, I interned at a different agency. As an analytics interactive intern, I mainly did statistical research and strategy. It was quite interesting, but I hardly had any human interaction. After a few long months, I knew this wasn’t for me. But I finished out the internship and then headed to Australia to study for the summer abroad. While in Australia, I took a couple of advertising classes and did some more ad agency work, but this time on the creative side of things. It sparked my interest, but still there was something missing; that every day client interaction and ability to strategize, plan and execute decisions with the clients.
Four months passed, I learned a lot, but the time had come for me to return home and start my senior year. I landed at 12:30 AM, went to sleep, then got up at 7 AM to prepare for my interview with EMA. We sat down, talked about my experiences, and why I wanted to work at EMA. Fortunately, we seemed to mesh, and I was offered the position with the Business Development team. It was at this time that I became a little bit warmer but I hadn’t even realized it yet. A few months later and I can honestly say I love it. Everyone is super friendly and helpful. I have been conducting a lot of research, but I get to infuse my creative ideas and experiences into it and give advice to decision makers. Ultimately I get to see my work being used, and nothing feels better. From the start at EMA I have felt like a valuable member of the team.
Almost everything I have worked on has benefited my professional career or given me some type of industry educational knowledge. Not only that, but I have been given the opportunity to move into several advertising roles. Next semester I get to work with account management/planning. Hopefully this gives me the personal client interaction that I’m looking for.
With each stride and step here at EMA, I am not only learning more and more about the industry, but about myself in general. My path keeps getting hotter and hotter, and I enjoy my work more and more. I’ve learned how to not only research, find contact lists, build company profiles and develop pitches. But translate these skills for personal skills. I can now research possible employment opportunities for the future, find their key contacts, learn about their culture and connect and sell myself to the individuals that interview me. It’s so hard today to make that personal connection and separate yourself in a pile of resumes. So I’ve not only conquered that daunting and intimidating task of finding a career path that I enjoy, but I’m finding opportunities and learning skills that I will use for the rest of my life.