The following is an interview with Samantha Bonom, ‘99, a senior content producer for Y&R, a marketing and communications company based in New York City.
What did you study at University of Richmond and what were your post-graduation plans?
I studied marketing with a specific interest in advertising. After classes and a couple relevant internships, I decided I wanted to get a job in account management at a large advertising agency when I graduated. Funny enough, I once wrote a paper for one of my classes about why I wanted to work at my current employer, Y&R!
What did you actually do post-graduation and what is your current position?
Right out of college, I took an administrative assistant position at Y&R as a way to get a foot in the door when my targeted account management area didn’t have any open opportunities. After a short time, I was moved into a junior account management position and for eight years, worked my way up the client service ladder. After working on several client accounts that did a lot of TV commercial production, I decided that I wanted to shift my position within my company and move into broadcast production specifically. I have now been in the content production department for about five years and am a Senior Content Producer, producing commercial work for a variety of brands including Fisher Price, Dannon, J.C. Penney’s and Campbell’s, among others.
What is your typical workday/week like?
One of the things I love most about advertising and production is that it’s always changing. I might be searching for directors and watching reels of their work, reviewing casting, traveling for a shoot or working with an editor to help shape our footage into what you’ll ultimately see on TV. Each project brings new challenges and things to learn.
What do you know now (career-related) that you wish you knew as an undergraduate student?
Although I knew I had found the right industry, it took me a while to really understand all the various roles within the world of advertising that were open to me. And as someone who shifted her field after a number of years, I wish I had known that I didn’t need to have a career plan figured out all that quickly. Once you’ve got a foot in the door, take some time to look around!
What is your most valuable networking technique?
Remembering to never burn a bridge! My work is project based and each new project brings with it new vendors and people to interact with… and everybody talks. Putting real effort in to work with various personality types goes a long way, and it’s incredibly helpful to start your next project when a good reputation precedes you.
What is the most played song on your iPod?
We get a lot of music directly from the music labels for licensing consideration on future commercial work so my tunes are usually playing on shuffle!
Article printed from University of Richmond Collegian: http://thecollegianur.com
URL to article: http://thecollegianur.com/2013/09/25/spider-way-print/37374/
Spider Career Blog 