Less than a year after graduation, several School of Communication alumni have already worked with celebrities like Vince Vaughn and LeBron James.
“I spent some time with Bill Gates last week,” said Tessie Epstein, a 2010 SOC grad and current client staff assistant at Burson-Marsteller. “You never know who you’re going to meet.”
SOC Professor Pallavi Kumar’s public relations class hosted a panel Tuesday called “192 Days Later: Where are They Now? Stories from 2010 SOC Grads.”
Five 2010 SOC graduates, including Epstein, talked about how AU helped them in their public communications careers.
Students who have a good knowledge of social media, professional writing and a foreign language are the most valuable in the workplace, the alumni said.
They also stressed the importance of internships.
"People do notice what interns do,” said Dave Lieberson, a 2010 SOC grad and publicity and promotions coordinator at Allied Integrated Marketing. “It can affect you later … what you’re doing is important for hiring or even asking you to come back for the next semester.”
Elijah Mercer, a junior in SOC, said the panel gave him hope for the future.
“This panel shows the fact that we can actually pursue and land a job in PR," he said. "These people were in our shoes a semester ago."
rkaras@theeagleonline.com
