By Aden Nickerson
Graduation can be daunting, especially when unsure of your career path. Martin Hall Agency (MHA) can transform this uncertainty by offering hands-on experience through real-world campaigns. While working on the campaigns, students build portfolios, manage deadlines, and learn teamwork. All these opportunities allow you to discover your niche and prepare for a future in advertising and public relations. You’ll be immersed in a fully operating student-run agency with guidance by professionals to help you build on your skills.
Identifying Your Strengths and Career Niche
Coming into Martin Hall Agency, I had yet to learn my niche. Although I had completed internships, I still felt lost and unsure. MHA helps you understand your strengths and skills.
Just working through a simternship I was able to build on my skills and strengthen my abilities. I found myself navigating media planning very easily, which sparked a new interest in a future career in media strategy. A newfound confidence is gained when you discover something you’re good at. I picked up new skills when it came to facilitating a budget and properly placing the budget across all media channels for the best possible results.
As a Tactician, you’ll have the chance to work outside of your team with peers to help create a communications brief and presentation where you can put those skills to the test and present them to your class as if you’re pitching to a client.
Here are some of the skills I strengthened this semester:
- Team work
- Presentation skills
- Communication
- Research
- Manage deadlines
Educational Experience as Professional Development
This student-run agency is the perfect place to gain experience through education. Not all students can score internships with companies; college life can be very stressful and time-consuming. Martin Hall Agency allows you to build your professional experience into your schedule.
This hands-on studio-style course will help grow your portfolio because not only will you get the chance to work on a campaign but you’ll hold positions such as,
- Account Director: Manages the client’s account
- Creative Director: Manages the creative team
- Multimedia Director: Manages the design and production aspects of the campaign
- Public Relations Director: Manages the accounts communication
- Brand Manager: In charge of the brand image
These positions might be where you find that niche. I have found comfort in knowing that I am one of the Digital Media Specialists for my team. Through this position, I can apply my skills and retain the knowledge I just learned. I find “comfort” because it’s helped me feel more prepared to step into a real-world career.
When considering college education, I think of retaining knowledge to apply to whatever job I land after graduation. At MHA, you get the educational experience to grow and begin your journey to professional development.
Exploring Future Job Opportunities
The journey to professional development can seem overwhelming, especially when considering job opportunities. Martin Hall Agency allows you to work in a real-world situation where you’ll hold a title. By working on these campaigns, you’ll be able to discover the wide variety of job opportunities that could open up a career.
The whole purpose of finding your niche through MHA is to help you explore the career you want. When I found that my strengths lie in media planning, I immediately discovered that it was the career I wanted to pursue.
Working on the campaign also sparked my interest in agency work and how to create a successful campaign for a client. I ended up getting an internship while in MHA with LinkedIn x HubSpot, where I had to create an Ad campaign for a client. I was able to directly apply the skills and knowledge from class to my very own project.
Conclusion: Your Journey Starts here
Martin Hall Agency is a great opportunity that I recommend to anyone unsure of what’s next. Walking into this classroom will help you gain newfound confidence in your skills and yourself. The scary thoughts really do become “I’m ready” in such a short amount of time. Those initial uncertainties transform into confidence. Discover and learn more about what MHA offers by clicking the link below.
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