Name: Marissa Bentivoglio
Degree: B.S. in Public Relations with a concentration in Human Resource Management
Graduated: May 2010, Champlain College
Hometown: Southbury, CT

Contact Info:
Facebook: Marissa Bentivoglio
Twitter: @Mbenti http://twitter.com/MBenti
linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/marissabentivoglio
MBenti’s Commentary Space: http://shuunotshu.blogspot.com/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/mbenti9
contact: Marissa.Benti[at]gmail[dot]com

The Brief
 Do you need a self-motivated, passionate and resourceful PR employee? Then Marissa is your #1 pick! If she can’t answer a question herself, she’ll find someone who can. She’s not afraid to say, “I’m not sure, I’ll get back to you” and do some research in order to give a well-thought out answer to a question.  She brings enthusiasm to each project she works on and to the organization with whom she’s working. Her position as a Student Ambassador at Champlain College has helped her to develop superior oral communication skills. Whether it be for an internship or a job position, she brings a willingness to learn and understand the industry and situation and then applies what she’s learned to each position to achieve results.

What drew her to PR? Marissa wanted to be able to highlight people and organizations who are making a difference.  She wanted to work with people in a positive way.  Since she’s been a student, she’s learned that the largest aspect of PR is the ability to write and communicate well and the networking that occurs is a by-product of being in the industry.  “As I embark upon my career, “ Marissa states, “ I challenge myself to uphold a personal ethical promise I made that I would not do PR for an organization in which I didn’t personally believe.”

Even during her student career, Marissa upheld this promise through the various organizations she’s worked with over the years, including:
Growing Options, Inc., a Geriatric Care Management Practice in Fairfield/New Haven County, CT
Dublin City Council, Cycling Division, Dublin, Ireland
HOT ART Fair, VIP Lounge, Basel, Switzerland
Tecnica, USA, West Lebanon, NH
Girls Move Mountains, Montpelier, VT
Vermont Italian Cultural Association, VT
Seventh Generation, Burlington, VT
Lake Champlain Chocolates, Burlington, VT
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Waterbury, VT
Central Naugatuck Valley Senior Service Network, Naugatuck, CT
Champlain College LEAD Program, Burlington, VT

Through her involvement, Marissa has added value to each organization she’s worked with, in addition to bringing a get-it done and professional attitude.  She assisted in the development of various communication channels for her PR position at Growing Options including expanding personal network connections through face-to-face networking groups, which is especially important for the elder care industry.  While there, she worked on developing a full media kit, the company blog, and SEO. She also worked with a graphic designer to design a new logo. 

In HR, she was able to add value by developing job descriptions and conducting the hiring process. She brought to light important information about HR laws and processes such as what to ask in an interview and how to compose valuable job ads in order to gain the applicants desired.

While studying abroad in Ireland, Marissa worked with Dublin City Council’s Cycling Division on a social marketing plan. The goal was to promote cycling in Dublin City Centre.  Marissa and her team recommended a bike-sharing system that has proven very successful since its implementation last fall.

As a PR and HR intern at Lake Champlain Chocolates, Marissa helped to organize a weeklong internal campaign to raise money for the United Way of Chittenden County.  Through her efforts, she was able to raise $4,500. The campaign, A Taste of Vermont, was based on the Local Secret events held by the organization’s retail stores that feature their local providers in Vermont. She also made recommendations on how to optimize their Facebook page and Twitter account through engaging followers and strategically using hashtags.

In her free time, one can find Marissa surrounded by music as she plays the flute, piano and sings. She also enjoys collecting sea glass and visiting Rhode Island, and has been described by her peers as the Lean Mean Tweeting Machine for her love of Twitter and social media.

This grad is going to change the world, so make sure she’s doing it as a member of YOUR organization!

The Interview:
Sum yourself up in 140 characters or less:
Resourceful Champlain grad w/ hands-on exp. in PR & HR, including Int’l projects & work at a small biz. Enthusiastic about soc. media.

What does success mean to you?
Success would be contributing to a cause or organization that is meaningful and important, while maintaining a balance between work and my personal life.

What do you consider your biggest success?
My biggest success would be my time spent abroad in Dublin, Ireland at Champlain College Dublin.   Had I not taken that leap, I might not have had the opportunity to work on international projects, but I am so glad that I did. Being abroad gave me a new cultural perspective and appreciation, as well as a sense of independence and confidence in myself.  Since I had that experience, I’m not limiting myself in my job search to just the US; I consider the world to be my job market.

I’m also proud of being a Girl Scout Gold Award recipient which is the highest award in Girl Scouts.  My project, which I completed in 2006, related to job advice for high school students as well as job statistics for students at my high school.  I held workshops to help my peers learn how to fill out job applications and answer questions.

Describe your ideal working environment:
Having experienced varying workplace environments, from a mid-size engineering firm to a small business with 5 employees, I’ve learned that I prefer a smaller working environment where I have the opportunity to wear many hats.  I like to participate in development of the organization’s strategy from a PR and/or HR perspective.  The opportunity to combine both passions in the workplace would be ideal, and I’d like to become part of a professional community where I work.

What is something you’ve learned from your mistakes?
You only fail when you don’t use the constructive criticism to improve the next time.  Also, I’m only human.

You have a million dollars. What do you do with it?
Pay off college loans, put some aside for my parents’ retirement, donate to a scholarship fund, then ask my twitter followers what to do with the rest.

How do they get the cream filling inside a Twinkie?
Each Twinkie receives special attention and is hand-filled with love before it is packaged.  That’s why the cream filling is the best part!

If a newspaper wrote an article about your leadership style, what would the headline be?
Conscientious Team Leader

References:

Dr. Elaine Young, Assistant Dean of Business, Associate Professor at Champlain College:
“Marissa is an excellent student who is positive, curious, and a life-long learner. As a student she is diligent, always turns in exemplary work and has a strong attention to detail. She is not afraid to take risks but at the same time is guided by a strong sense of strategic imperative. In other words she is not impulsive, but rather she is thoughtful and can clearly outline the pros and cons of a decision. She is also a strong communicator who writes well, speaks with confidence and knows how to represent a brand well (as a tour guide, I hear her represent the Champlain brand whenever she walks by giving a tour to prospective students and families). As a PR major she has thrown herself into the world of Internet technologies and tools and is demonstrating for other students how these tools can be utilized to engage with others. She would be an asset to any organization whether it be in Public Relations, or Marketing. I give Marissa my highest recommendation.”

Ciarán Fallon, Cycling Officer, Dublin City Council:
“Marissa Bentivoglio and Matt Hovey of Champlain College,  Dublin prepared an excellent report for Dublin City Council’s Cycling Office  entitled ‘Increasing Cycling in Dublin City’. The report contained  strong research and sound analysis. They presented their findings very  professionally in a written document and in an oral presentation to an  audience drawn from Dublin City Council, An Taisce Green Schools and  Cultivate. Their work made a real contribution to the work of the Cycling  Office.”

Meghan Fitzpatrick, Marketing Specialist, Lake Champlain Chocolates:

“Marissa worked with me at Lake Champlain Chocolates on various marketing/pr activities for her Spring Senior Internship while she was at Champlain College. Marissa always listened carefully, followed through and completed her tasks in a timely manner. Marissa tackled each task with unbridled enthusiasm, whether it was documenting an event at our retail store, researching social media contests or writing blog entries. She openly shared her ideas and brought a fresh perspective to our group. Marissa would be a welcome addition to any team and I would highly recommend her.”

With Champlain’s graduation only days away (eek!) I wanted to take a look back on all the soon-to-be grads that I’ve featured  over the past few months. These grads rocked it then and they’re still rocking it now, even as the semester and their college careers come to an end. Scoop these grads up if you’re looking to hire, otherwise keep track of them…they’re all bound for great things! They are:

Brooke Zambroski, the cool-headed and clever grad who knows the balance between the big-picture and the “nitty-grittys.” Graduating with degrees in both graphic design and marketing, she’s looking for a sweet job incorporating her love of branding and design.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, the energetic and outgoing grad who strives to make people happy one smile and drink at a time. Ryan’s ideal job would incorporate his love of food and his obsession with sports, and he hopes to one day open his own sports bar.

Jackie Cooper, the natural born leader who thrives in a fast-paced environment. Jackie is looking for a job that will challenge her and put her marketing skills such as SEO, social media, and analytics to the test.

Caitlin O’Connor, the dynamic go-getter who wants to continue her work in promotions and event and experiential marketing.

Corey Grenier, the social media ninja who knows how to get down to business. This grad is looking to use her social media and marketing skills to empower women and girls across the globe.

Caila Burke, a dedicated marketing grad who knows the true meaning of hustle. She’s in search of an event or grassroots/buzz marketing position in the action sports and youth culture markets.

Amanda Jones, the organized and persnickety leader with an eye for small details. As a double major in marketing and graphic design, Amanda wants to use both of these skill sets in a funky and fresh work environment.

E-mail them, Tweet them, Facebook them or call them, just don’t forget them! These grads have accomplished many, many great things over their college careers at Champlain College, and the world can only wait in anticipation to see the wonderful things they’ll do on the other side of the higher education fence. Good luck, grads, and congratulations!

Want to be featured? If you’re a soon to be or recent grad and want to be featured, e-mail Nichole at nicholemagoon[at]gmail[dot]com.

Guts and Glory
    It all started during one of my early morning routines. I stood there, brushing my teeth with my brain mulling the assignment for Marketing Management in my head. Create a personal brand—it was simple, yet so hard. What am I about? What do I stand for? What could I write about all semester that people would be interested in and would add some kind of value? I had no possible idea.
    Then, like a 2x4 to the face, it hit me—#hirethisgrad. It had started as a simple hash tag last year for graduating seniors. It was a stretch, but I could run with it.  It added value, it was interesting, and it truly encompassed my love for helping others. I wasn’t sure how far it could go. This was the first class where it wasn’t just a plan, or an idea…it was something we had to conjure up AND implement. It had the opportunity for great success, but also great failure.
    At first I was a bit hesitant. Were people going to do this? Would people read it? Would it actually help others get a job? But, no guts, no glory. So, I jumped right into it.
    I set a few goals:
    I would develop a blog. I would write up a blog post for each student and post one every week, get quotes/testimonials from teachers for each student, and I would blog about any press a student received.
    I would create a twitter to add to the blog.  I would tweet about posts made in the blog, participate in #ff and list off students in the class for #ff, follow industry leaders, use a hashtag, post relevant links about the job market and RT industry leaders.
    Last, but not least, I would hopefully meet some personal goals set for myself through Hire This Grad. I would demonstrate my passion for helping others and non-profit work through Hire This Grad’s development. I would also build my own personal website to showcase who I was and my strengths as a graphic designer and marketers, and Hire This Grad would link to these.  Finally, I would work on perfecting my own personal brand. Who am I? What are my strengths? What are my goals? What personal attributes define me? I wanted to finish with a clear understanding of who I am, my brand, and how my brand will contribute to the success of a company as an employee.
So, how would I measure whether or not this personal brand was successful? This way:
    100 relevant followers, ones that add value. They should include marketing professionals or influential members of an industry related to a passion of a graduating senior.
    Many RT’s by relevant followers
    Followers would be actively engaged with RTs, responses and comments.
    Analytics would show active and constant traffic to the blog
    Atleast one student received a job offer or someone in the industry passes along their name/blog link to someone looking to hire. And, as I quoted in my original Plan For Success in January, “Heck, I think I’d be happy if some employer even said they read the blog and read about a job candidate on there.”
Plus, maybe get a job myself. Who knew?

I set pretty high standards for myself. I hoped I had the guts to do it…and there would be glory that followed it. 

The Guts
    Now, with Hire This Grad approaching it’s 4 month birthday, I can’t believe I’ve not only achieved most of the goals I set, but I’ve exceeded most of them as well. It’s almost surreal to me.
191 Twitter Followers, including:
   Propeller Media Works
    Spring Above Marketing
    New Grad Life in San Diego, CA
    Brewing A Better Life through Green Mountain Coffee Roasters
    Vermont Tourism
    Chris Brogan, president of New Marketing Labs & New York Times best selling author
    My Web Grocer
    Brandthropology
    Magic Hat
    Shay Totten, columnist for the Seven Days
    Commerce Generation
    Shel Israel, author of Twitterville
   
While I don’t know the exact number of RTs ( is there something out there that will tell me?) I know that many people have RTed the posts about each student, and most of the followers are those passionate about or in the field of marketing.  I consistently used the #hirethisgrad hashtag that many others picked up on and used.

Now, a little look at the “guts” of the Hire This Grad website:

977 visits from 48 countries/territories

825 visits in 40 out of 50 states

After the initial spike of me changing the layout around, there was atleast one visit every day, whether I tweeted or not.  Most of the spikes were around Fridays when I posted a featured grad. The second annotation reflects the business card I handed out at the job fair and there was a large spike of visitors the next three days. 

Overall, the analytics show constant and active traffic from day 1. Success!

    The last measurement for success? At least one person received a job offer from the site. Initially, I really only included this because, hey, it IS the POINT of the site, right? But, I didn’t really think that it would happen. I thought it would be nice, but not realistic.
    I’m happy to report that one student, Corey Grenier(@rosiemarketer) was contacted by a business in Vermont and asked to interview for a job because they found her on Hire This Grad. While it was not a job she was interested in, she was able to refer the opening to someone else who interviewed and was hired for the job. I’ll consider that a GREAT success, congrats Justine!

The Glory
    In addition to the goals I had set for myself, I also encountered some other fantastic opportunities that I would have never imagined. First, I made a connection with Lynne Guey from Campus Tweet and did a skype interview with her and the rest of the class based on Hire This Grad. Second, I made a great connection with Caleb Wolfe from Jobs In VT who liked the idea of Hire This Grad and helped me connect with Chris Carrigan, Vice President of Business Development at the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. With his help along with Caleb Wolfe, I will be developing a business plan and discussing potential financial backing to turn Hire This Grad into a state wide website/non-profit.

Lastly, I met my personal goals through the development of Hire This Grad and the personal branding assignment.  I’ve gotten closer to developing an understanding of who I am as a person and as an employee. I’m driven and dedicated, and I truly, truly enjoy helping others. My goals are to make something of myself in this world, to help others and to make a difference. I’ve developed a great deal of confidence in myself, in my skills and knowledge, and my ability to do something gutsy, such as starting my own business. A year ago I would have believed that there was no way I could do such a thing. My drive, my dedication, my heart, and my passions define who I am, and I’m so proud of that. I still have a ways to go on my quest for self discovery and definition, but I’ve made great strides because of this project.

I would have never seen this happening in a million years when starting this, but I’m beyond excited to see where it will go. Now it’s just a matter of getting up the guts to pursue this!

Now, I just need to work on the whole “getting a job myself” goal ( yes, shameless plug!:)) SO….Hire This Grad!

—Nichole

Name: K. Brooke Zambroski
Major: Marketing with a focus of Advertising / Multimedia & Graphic Design
Hometown: Amherst, NH

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kbzambroski
Twitter: http://twitter.com/brookezam
linkedin:http://www.linkedin.com/in/kbzambroski
website:http://brookezam.wordpress.com/
Youtube:
contact: kaitlyn[dot]zambroski@gmail[dot]com

The Brief:
Are you in need of a creative person with strong communication skills in high stress situations, someone who can do it all, especially while riding a unicycle? Then get in contact with K. Brooke Zambroski.

A marketing mogul and a social media ninja in training, Brooke chose marketing because of her desire to save the world. She believes that the best way to get people to do something good or productive is with good messaging rather than evil advertising or manipulation.  She believes it’s about spreading good causes and initiatives that she believes in.

Brooke uses this belief and her creative strengths and applies them to every project or organization she works with.  She tries to take a new approach to problems to keep the solutions from getting stale. When she worked with mentor recruiting in DREAM, there was a need to find where the students were that would make good mentors.  Brooke and the others at DREAM realized this meant a lot of footwork and branding-directing messages to leaders on campus and new students looking to volunteer.  Through good, creative marketing, where there once was a need for volunteers there is now competition for volunteers.

Brooke has also applied her creativity, communication, and strong marketing and design skills at every organization she’s worked with, including:

DREAM Program
TrueMajority.com
Lund Family Center
Chelsea Green Publishing
Able Paint, Glass, & Flooring
Learning Disabilities Worldwide
Champlain College Publishing Initiative
VSECU: Vermont State Employee’s Credit Union
Champlain College Department of Residential Life


In her spare time, Brooke enjoys reading. She just finished The Origin of Brands  and Waiting for your Cat to Bark. Currently, she is reading Why Women Should Rule the World by Dee Dee Meyers. Brooke attended a conference where Meyers was the keynote speaker. Her experience as a woman in a male dominated field was eye opening for Brooke, as she saw that Meyers is a confident woman who knows her strengths. This book provides Brooke with the opportunity to learn from Meyers’ journey.

When she’s not reading, Brooke enjoys branding, designing, social media, ultimate Frisbee, and puddle jumping.

If Brooke has the skills that your organization needs, you should definitely Hire This Grad!

The Interview:
Sum yourself up in 140 characters or less:
MKT grad looking for a sweet job. Love branding and design. New love for roller derby. Always looking for new challenges and adventures.

What does success mean to you?
Success means waking up in the morning, ready to take on the day.  It means being happy with who you are and where you are in life.  For me, I need to know I am doing the best I can and sharing that success with those in my community.


What do you consider your biggest success?
I think my biggest success was turning down the opportunity to continue illustrating for a children’s book series.  This may seem like a strange success, but it was a moral decision I still believe in today.  I completed the first book with many reservations.  The author originally jotted down what ethnicity each of the characters had to be-very strict in her decision.  When I brought characters for approval, she would send them back and ask me to make them closer to an unflattering stereotype.  I was not thrilled with the way the author treated me nor culture sensitivity.  After the first book was published, I was asked to stay on, but had to decline to keep myself feeling ethical and sane. 

What is something you’ve learned from your mistakes?
I have learned that there is something to learn.  I try not to regret things I might have wanted to do differently, but learn from them so that next time I’m in a pickle, I know better.

Describe your ideal working environment:
My ideal working environment is bright and energetic. I am a fan of bold ideas and bold colors, so both are a must.  Sterile environments are not my thing, creativity tends to get stale. My desk at home has a ton of distractions like playdoh, a magic 8 ball, and kaleidoscope.  These are all necessary items to fuel my spirit.

You have a million dollars. What do you do with it?
First, I would probably buy a handful of scratch tickets to test my luck.  Once that didn’t work, I would invite my friends and family to travel with me for a few weeks.  I think a good culture shock does the body good. Lastly, and it pains me to say this, I think I would put the rest in savings. There are so many adventures I can’t even dream up now, it wouldn’t be fair to not plan for the future.

How do they get the cream filling inside a Twinkie?
I think the better question is how they get the Twinkie around the cream filling.  Well, it was the night of the cup-cake prom and Funfetti, the cream’s date, got cold feet.  He blew off the night to leave the cream crying in its frosting jar.  Twinkie, cream’s best friend, heard about the tragedy and rushed over to give cream filling a big bear hug.  That’s what friends do.  So, whenever you see the Twinkie, you can tell all of the love that has gone into it. What a tasty hug!

If a newspaper wrote an article about your leadership style, what would the headline be?
Cool-Headed and Clever: Discovering the Balance between Big-Picture and “Nitty-Gritty”s

Name: Ryan Fitzpatrick   
Major: Hospitality Industry Management with a focus in Hotel/Restaurant Management and Event Management
Hometown: Vernon, NJ
Facebook: Ryan Fitzpatrick       
Twitter: ryanfitz124
linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryfitzpatrick
contact:ryfitzpatrick[at]gmail[dot]com, phone: 1-973-214-0529

The Brief:
If you’re in the mood for a dedicated, self-motivated employee in the hospitality industry who demonstrates leadership, customer satisfaction, communication and most of all service with a smile, Ryan Fitzpatrick is this week’s Hire This Grad special.  In addition to his background in hospitality, Ryan also serves up computer skills working with different types of POS systems, knowledge of cost control, and knowledge of social media.

What captured Ryan about Hospitality? When he first attended Champlain College as a marketing major, it left him wanting more.  He loved food, had the personality to be in the hospitality business and had a strong desire to one day own his own business.  Through his Champlain education, he’s received hands on experience between cooking and serving food and successfully planned a banquet for one of his final exams.  He realized that he could find a happy medium working in the hotel/restaurant industry and still using the marketing skills that he got as a marketing major. In fact, he’s currently reading Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business by Erik Qualman to add to his social media and marketing knowledge.

Through his work, Ryan has demonstrated his excellent hospitality skills by performing tasks without supervision and being depended on to complete these tasks, stepping up to supervisory experience, and helping to plan events on campus. He’s also demonstrated them through his experience working with various restaurants and organizations, including:

The Essex Culinary Resort and Spa (formerly known as The Inn at Essex)
New England Culinary Institute
Tiley’s Café
Great Gorge Country Club McAfee, NJ
Crystal Springs Golf Resort Hardyston, NJ

Ryan’s other passion is sports, and his secret goal in life is to have a talk show on ESPN Radio so he can rant and rave about sports. When he’s not talking food, he’s talking about sports. His other hobbies include video games, playing golf, lacrosse (he coaches a youth lacrosse team in Burlington, VT) and cooking, especially grilling.

Serve up some success for your business and Hire This Grad!

The Interview:
Sum yourself up in 140 characters or less:
fun, loves food, loves to make people happy, caring, obsession with sports, gamer, jersey boy, ilovevermont, always has a good time

What does success mean to you?
Success means that I accomplished something by making someone’s day, whether it was serving them coffee, preparing a meal or just having a great conversation.  If I made you happy and you can remember me from that, I did my job.

What do you consider your biggest success?
My biggest success has to be catering my first wedding for 250 people while cooking out of a barn with 4 propane burners and one single stack oven. This was the first wedding that I have planned fully and executed with a team of Champlain College students and some friends of mine.  The wedding went on without a single problem, and everyone loved the food and the staff.  The most satisfying part was when the father of the bride came up to me during the wedding and said how proud he was of me and my business partner for pulling this off.

What is something you’ve learned from your mistakes?
That mistakes are just a new opportunity to build from.  I have failed before but failure has made me a stronger person and a better leader.  Mistakes are building opportunities.

Describe your ideal working environment:
I would love to own my own sports bar. It would have TVs as far as the eyes could see, pool tables, dart boards, and a beer pong table.  I would get to come in and everyone would know my name.  Everyone would say, “Let’s go to ‘Fitzy’s’, the game’s on and that guy is the man.”  My staff would be the best at what they do and the friendliest.  That would be awesome.

You have a million dollars. What do you do with it?
I would probably pay my parents back for college, buy a 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback, put money aside for my kids. Take my wife on a vacation.  Then, I would play a lot of golf.

How do they get the cream filling inside a Twinkie?
I have no clue, I’d like to think that magic elves put the cream in but we all know it’s probably some fat guy sitting on machine putting it in there.

If a newspaper wrote an article about your leadership style, what would the headline be? “Making people happy one smile and drink at a time, Fitz demonstrates that happiness is the key to success”

On Monday, March 29, 2010, Hire This Grad made its first official appearance at Champlain College’s annual job fair as a business card to hand out to employers.

This job fair is the largest in the state of Vermont and draws in over 80 employers and over 750 job-seekers.  Looking at the abundance of part time and full time jobs, internships, as well as the sheer amount of people in search of a job, I really saw the importance of a site like Hire This Grad.  Many times it’s just about connecting the right people with the right jobs, making sure both the potential employer and employee knows the other one exists. 
The job fair at Champlain is open to students and the general public, so those searching for jobs get a great look into the current job market and those currently looking for jobs.

It was a great opportunity for Hire This Grad to learn what employers are looking for and to talk with them about the opportunities available on the site.  Hire This Grad  was able to talk with employers such as:

Jobsinvt.com
ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center
Green Mountain Digital
Hall Communications
MyWebGrocer
HRSentry

And many, many more!

Thanks to Pat Boera, Champlain’s director of Career Services, the annual job fair was a resourceful and productive experience that helped not only Hire This Grad but many other students and job-seekers pass out resumes and business cards, make connections, and even obtain jobs.

Who knows, maybe next year Hire This Grad will appear at the job fair, not only as a business card but also as a booth offering jobs and internships!

Name: Jackie Cooper
Major: Marketing/Advertising
Hometown: Wilbraham, MA
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelinecooper
Twitter: @jcooper225
Blog: www.jcooper225.tumblr.com

The Brief:
Does your organization need an organized employee who gets work done and has a fine eye for detail? A reliable person who is willing to go above and beyond what is expected of her? Then Jackie Cooper is the girl for you. Jackie thrives in a fast paced environment and is able to adapt quickly under a variety of situations and customer needs, helping her develop excellent customer service skills.

Because of her willingness to exceed expectations, she has taken initiative for two of her past employers, including Six Flags New England & Hall Communications, and developed and implemented successful social media campaigns. Not only did she develop the campaigns, but she also stressed the importance of social media and created a plan to help each employer continue the campaigns after her time there. In addition, she’s used her networking skills to increase attendance at the events she promotes for Hall Communications.

And, her promptness and awareness of deadlines has paid off for her work at Brandthropology, as they are now giving her more responsibility and trusting her with more projects. She currently maintains the company’s social media pages.

In addition to her work at Brandthropology and Hall Communications, Jackie has also worked with:
Boarding for Breast Cancer (B4BC)
Stowe Area Association
Able Paint & Glass
Vermont State Employees Credit Union (VSECU)
Champlain College Publishing Initiative (CCPI)
Back Country Magazine

Jackie chose marketing because she saw it as an outlet for her creativity. She enjoys being in challenging situations and figuring out creative solutions to achieve the best results, and marketing allows her to do that. She also enjoys the constant changes in technology and understands the importance of staying up to date and continuous learning. To keep up to date with the changes in marketing, Jackie is currently reading The Boss of You by Lauren Backon. She just finished Marketing in the Groundswell by Charlene Li and plans to read Everything a Woman needs to Start, Run, and Maintain Her Own Business by Emira Mears.

If it’s not already obvious, Jackie is passionate about learning. She’s used that passion to start a blog that ties together the things she’s learned through her school, internship and everyday life experiences. She believes in the importance of staying current and learning about new technologies and tools.  In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding, adventuring, good friends, good food, Western Massachusetts, penguins, snowflakes, theme parks, and strong coffee.

If you need a detail oriented, outgoing, passionate, and driven employee who thrives in a fast paced environment and will rise above and beyond what’s expected of her, then you should Hire This Grad!


The Interview:
Sum yourself up in 140 characters or less:
soon to be #campchamp #marketing grad. seeking a job to challenge me further in #marketing - skills: #socialmedia #analytics #SEO #promotions

What does success mean to you?
Success is happiness. Keeping this short and sweet because my definition of success is still being added to.

What do you consider your biggest success?
 I believe one of my biggest successes thus far in my professional career was making the transition from being an intern to a paid part-time employee. I started interning for Hall Communications (the Buzz, WIZN, KOOL, WOKO, WJOY) in September of ‘08, they hired me in January of ‘09 and I have been doing promotions with them ever since. I also took the initiative to create a social media presence through the use of a Facebook fan page for the Buzz, which has successfully been gaining fans since it was started.

What is something you’ve learned from your mistakes?
That I can’t dwell on them, you just have to keep on living and learn from them. Sounds cliché but I believe mistakes do happen for a reason – to keep you learning, growing and experiencing.

Describe your ideal working environment:
 My ideal working environment would be an office surrounded with fun, bubbly, hardworking, motivated, positive people with big windows looking onto a snow capped mountain. I enjoy fast paced atmospheres with a lot going on as much as I enjoy quite personal space and dogs casually walking around. I think it’s really all about the people you’re surrounded by that make the environment what it is – positive vibes are contagious.

You have a million dollars. What do you do with it?
I would ensure my parents are comfortable for the rest of their lives because they deserve it.


How do they get the cream filling inside a Twinkie?
 Ever see that owl that tries to figure out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, he definitely has something to do with it.


If a newspaper wrote an article about your leadership style, what would the headline be?
“To lead the people, walk behind them.” – Lao Tzu

References:

Dr. Elaine Young, Marketing Professor and Assistant Dean of the Business Division at Champlain College:

“I have had the pleasure of watching Jackie grow and mature over the past four years — from first year student to senior — and have found her to be an energetic, passionate young woman who is incredibly successful at whatever she does. Her first internship translated into a part time job with the organization and in her current internship she is excelling. She is not afraid to take risks and is continually learning. She, along with another student, started up the Boarding for Breast Cancer chapter on campus for a class project and has continued to support the organization as a student ambassador ever since. She is strong in many areas of marketing, including promotions, events and social media marketing and would be an asset to any company or firm looking for a well-rounded, dedicated self-starter who can hit the ground running.”

Jonathan Wilson, Interactive Brandthropologist, Brandthropology:

“I had the pleasure of working with Jackie during her time as an intern at Brandthropology, a marketing firm in Burlington, Vermont. During her tenure, I have served as the interactive Strategist, stewarding the ideation, creation, and evaluation of our client’s online presences. I worked closely with Jackie on a number of projects and found her to be one of the stronger interns we have had here at Brandthropology. Jackie became an important part of stewarding the online campaign for a hospital client’s recruitment efforts. Jackie was in charge of creating, copywriting, providing imagery and evaluating CPC campaigns using Facebook and Indeed. On each site, Jackie created multivariate ads and evaluated the efficacy of each, optimizing them to maximize the client’s media spend. Jackie then used Google Analytics to track each campaign, as well as traffic from other sources, and made recommendations to fine-tune our various online media buys. As a result, our client’s jobs got filled, they saved money because they didn’t have to hire freelancers, and upper management was happy. Jackie also volunteered to do extra work beyond the normal scope of her required workload, including overseeing and adding value to our company Twitter and Facebook page. Her tenacity outside of her required internship hours resulted in a 300% increase in the number of followers to our company Twitter and Facebook pages. I highly recommend Jackie. She has a great energy and I know that given the proper guidance, she will learn quickly and become a valuable asset to your company.”

Name: Caitlin O’Connor
Major: Marketing Management
Hometown: Woburn, MA
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlin0c
Twitter: caitlineo
Blog: http://caitlineoconnor.wordpress.com/

The Brief:
Are you looking for an employee to work in a fast paced and energetic environment, one that will go above and beyond to make sure she meets any deadlines or quotas set before her? Then Champlain College senior Caitlin O’Connor is the one for you.

Caitlin is especially interested in promotions, event and experiential marketing, as well as being a brand ambassador. She’s been working promotions for about 5 years, and has recently worked with brands such as:
Owens Corning
General Snus
T-Mobile
Renewal by Anderson
El Presidente Beer
Chevrolet
Pepsi
ACT Mouthwash

Caitlin likes marketing because it’s ever-changing, and she enjoys change and a challenge.  She believes marketing isn’t stagnant and it requires interaction. To keep up with the forever-changing field, she’s reading The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott.  In her free time, she enjoys traveling, culture, skiing, hiking, interacting, adventuring, and being challenged.

In addition to her marketing knowledge, promotions work, and extensive travel abroad experience throughout Europe, Caitlin also brings to the table great optimism, problem solving abilities, creative solutions, and the ability to get things done efficiently.

The Interview:
Sum yourself up in 140 characters or less.
Avid Adventure in all aspects of life. I am a do-er and enjoy a challenge. I am energetic and thrive in a fast-paced environment.

What does success mean to you?
Success means working hard to achieve a feeling of accomplishment. It is being proud of yourself for pushing your limits

What do you consider your biggest success?
Accomplishing everything that I have dreamed of accomplishing in my life so far.

What is something you’ve learned from your mistakes?
To get right back up and keep on pushing through. Mistakes are a minor setback that you can either dwell on or push past.

Describe your ideal working environment.
High energy with a lot of enthusiasm and interaction. A place where everyone enjoys their job and nobody does the same thing every day.

You have a million dollars. What do you do with it?
First I would take some time to travel the remote parts of the world and meet people from various cultures. Then I would invest some of into my own company, which would be an experiential ad agency.

How do they get the cream filling inside a Twinkie?
The outside of the Twinkie is built around the cream filling because the cream filling is the most important part!

If a newspaper wrote an article about your leadership style, what would the headline be?
Dynamic Go-Getter

No, this isn’t an error. There are still plenty of upcoming grads out there looking to be hired! But, this week for Champlain is Spring Break, and in honor of that this creator is doing things a bit different.

Instead of featuring a grad, I wanted to talk about the importance of taking a break.  As the saying goes, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”  Up until this week, these grads have been working tirelessly to not only complete their homework and other scholarly duties, but also prepare to hit the workforce and enter the real world in just a few months. So, when Spring Break hits, many take the opportunity to travel, rest, and just relax for a few days. 

Sometimes it feels counterproductive to take a break, especially when the impending “to-do” list just seems to be getting longer. But, there are many benefits to taking a break or a vacation. It can be a health rejuvenator for the mind as well as the body and the spirit.  So, why should you take a vacation?

Health:
The Wisconsin Medical Journal reported a study that said those who take vacations, especially women, are able to release stress and suffer less from depression.  “Vacations provide a break from everyday stressors,” Cathy McCarty, Ph.D. said. “They allow us time away from work or home and help us release built-up tension.”  Less stress and tension helps students ultimately do better work when they return.

Happiness:
Let’s face it: take a vacation is (or should be!) fun! It gives you time to travel, read, sleep, whatever it is you enjoy doing.  Vacations provide time for you to take some personal time and recharge your happiness. Not only does a vacation put you in more positive mood, but it can also give you a more positive outlook on life. 

Creativity:
By now, most of you probably feel as though you’re scraping the bottom of the creativity bucket.  Vacations can actually promote creativity.  It breaks up the monotony of the daily routine and allows you to reconnect with yourself.  When you take a break from your daily routine and life, it gives you time to refill your bucket of creativity!

Productivity:
Let’s face it: sometimes we all suffer from burnout.  We often feel overworked and under-rested. A vacation allows you to take a break from work, stress, and other worries and to catch up on your rest.  When you take time to relax, you feel rested, recharged, and can be more productive and creative!

Because You Deserve It:
Everyone deserves to take a break. Enjoy it!

Just because these grads are taking a vacation, doesn’t mean they’ve completely abandoned their social media connection. Check out these awesome grads who are blogging about their travels or their vacation:


Joe Gaynor blogs about his snowboarding and skiing adventures from out west over break. Check out his videos!

Kristi Gorton also talks about her mountain adventures over break.


Madison Wood talks about her recent vacation to Miami, FL in her usual fashion blog.

Kathleen Wamser blogs about her recent cruise from Miami to Cozumel, Belize.


Stay tuned, next week we’ll feature a new grad!

Name: Corey Grenier
Major: Marketing/Advertising
Hometown: North Kingstown, RI

Contact Info:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/coreygrenier
linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/corey-grenier/b/b46/833
website: http://rosiethemarketer.tumblr.com/
website twitter: http://twitter.com/rosiemarketer
email: coreygrenier[at]gmail[dot]com
corey[dot]grenier@mymail[dot]champlain[dot]edu



The Brief:
Do you need an organized, punctual employee who can work well in teams and can always be counted on to do her share of the work? She’ll always be enthusiastic about everything she’d doing, even if she doesn’t love the task.  She’s a responsible individual, and companies she’s worked with know they can trust her to get the job done and to do it well.

What drew her to marketing? She’s always been a creative person and has been very passionate about the arts. But, Corey didn’t want to be a starving artist living on the streets, she wanted to wear a power suit and wanted to be an independent, career-oriented woman. So, she decided to study marketing and advertising in order to marry her creative and business mindsets.

Through her college years, Corey has applied her creativity and business sense to the numerous clients she has worked with, including:
Able Paint, Glass & Flooring
Vermont State Employees’ Credit Union (VSECU)
Stowe Area Association
Governors Institute of Vermont (GIV)
Valley Arts Foundation
North Star Sports
ECHO Lake Aquarium & Science Center
Brandthropology

Through her marketing studies, Corey has learned how the media can be manipulative and the immense power it can have, especially on women.  She currently writes a blog called Rosie The Marketer and writes posts to empower women rather than degrade them.  She showcases strong, independent women in the media and good role models, and she exposes media’s degradation of women.

In her free time, you’ll most likely find Corey immersed in her other passion: dancing.  She’ll dance just about anywhere, even when there is no music. And, since she studied abroad in Florence, Italy, she has developed a new passion for traveling. In addition, she enjoys photography, eating, and running.

The Interview:
Sum yourself up in 140 characters or less:
Soon to be #campchamp graduate interested in #socialmedia #empoweringwomen #travel #arts  #marketing looking for a job in #sandiego

What does success mean to you?
For me success will be being independent. I have always wanted to be a successful independent woman. I don’t want to have to rely on anyone else but myself. So,  if I have an awesome job that I love and I am working my hardest then I will be happy.

What do you consider your biggest success?
My biggest success was studying abroad for a semester in Italy. I was completely removed out of my comfort zone and adapted and embraced this new lifestyle. It was a life changing experience and I urge anyone who has the opportunity to go abroad to GO ABROAD.

Describe your ideal working environment:
An open space with a bunch of desks, no cubicles! Fun/ hardworking people. I really like the environment of Brandthropology where I am currently interning. It is a small agency with a lot of spirit.

What book are you currently reading?
I am currently reading Blink and about to start the “Greater Good Democracy”

How do they get the cream filling inside a Twinkie?
Ok so do you remember those little plastic tablets that you can get at the zoo, and once you put them in water they expand into some sort of sponge zoo animal. Twinkies are done the same way. A non-toxic/ degradable, cream filled tab is inserted into the Twinikie. Once it is inside it reacts with the cake and releases the cream filling. YUM. ughhhh.

You have a million dollars. What do you do with it?
I would buy my mom a lot of nice things, because she deserves it more than anyone else I know.

If a newspaper wrote an article about your leadership style, what would the headline be?
Getting down to business.

References

Jonathan Wilson, Interactive Brandthropologist at Brandthropology:

I was originally hesitant to take Corey on as an intern. Normally, we choose students that have already worked in marketing in some form or another, and Corey’s resume was the type that normally finds itself in the shredder pretty quickly. So I did my normal routine of asking for writing samples, follow up emails, and the like, hoping that like most, Corey would simply find that applying to Brandthropology was too much work and she’d look for an internship elsewhere.  I love doing this because it’s a great way to separate the wheat from the chaff and I don’t look like a jerk when undesirables go elsewhere.

Corey, in contrast, was ultra-viligant: She hit me up on Twitter. She stopped by the booth at the Champlain Internship fair.  She emailed me and fulfilled all my ridiculous requests for more information.  She did everything I asked for and more, before she even got an interview.  That’s hustle.  How could I not take her on?  You can teach different marketing systems and terminology, but you can’t teach tenacity, and Corey has that by the boatload.

Since coming to Brandthropology, Corey has show incredible ownership of our online marketing efforts through a combination of quality content creation and graphic design. She quickly learned to keep her communication succinct and actionable, allowing her to construct an effective social media outreach campaign for our company.  Her efforts, along with another Champlain student, have already tripled the number of Followers we have on Twitter in about 4 weeks. This dramatic change underscores her own understanding of social media, her willingness to work outside of her internship hours, and her ability to effective coordinate a project with minimal supervision.

Corey’s hustle has allowed her to excel at her internship thus far in the semester and I look forward to watching her continued growth for the remainder of the school year—and beyond.