Academic life, at times, is the direct source to successful career endeavors. Through it we learn how to work and assess our peers and situations professionally. From the beginning, Montclair State University has taken pride in preparing its students for the future by applying discipline and offering the experience of an agency like Hawk Communications. Topics such as the importance of client relations and communication were greatly highlighted through my work with The Monarchs and Loved and Lost. Both accounts strengthened abilities I already had and taught me new ones.
First, it is true what they say about how “teamwork makes the dream work.” For The Monarchs and Loved and Lost, tasks were completed because we relied on each other. This included professional, administrative and creative tasks. It confirmed how important it is to have a sense of leadership because it helps with communication flow. Likewise, I learned about being organized and planning. Mastering this made for an easier and effective experience with the accounts, and it is essential in the professional world. Time management was also one thing that was put to the test. Managing two different accounts while simultaneously having an internship was a challenge that was necessary for my development.
It is also important to add that showcasing social skills and professional behavior were also part of the experience. As a communications major, it is a given to interact with others. The teams always had active lines of communication and the clients through emails or zoom meetings. This is something that I became more comfortable with and understood is necessary to successfully achieve goals. In the past, I was afraid of sending follow up emails but after my work in Hawk Communications I understand that that just shows my interest in whatever is being discussed.
Lastly, my learnings were achieved through creating, participating and being present. For both accounts I worked on the social media teams. This included perfecting the use of my digital creativity by using Canva for posts, which I’m proud of. Also, the content creation of the videos, questions, posts and stories ignited creativity with a purpose. In addition, doing things like assisting The Monarchs practices and having conversations with the coaches and the kids helped magnify the experience. This gave me a chance to understand and feel the reason for the cause directly and that was beautiful. The human interaction was the most memorable and significant part. However, I am looking forward to improving my editing skills, which will be very useful for my career and creative expression. This experience provided a direct view of what skills are needed in a professional life after college and for that, I am grateful.