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January 2011
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Missouri Alumni Search Within the Tiger Family for the Next Best Employee
The "In Memory of Chelsea" intern chair at The Richards Group will remain empty until another intern with the same talent as Missouri Journalism senior Chelsea Lu returns to subsidiary Click Here. Photo: Brittany Walker.
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Outlets Around the Country Seek the Nation's Best and Brightest Journalism Grads - Ones from Missouri
By Nicole Aritzmendi
Strategic Communication Student
The social media boom and technological advances are rapidly shifting the journalism field. Publications are debating whether to hire younger tech-savvy journalists or more experienced traditional journalists.
Missouri students are both. Thanks to the Missouri Method of learning-by-doing, they are equipped with solid news principles and have learned how to use multiple social media platforms for news. Students also are offered faculty resources, professional organizations and real-world experience at multiple media outlets as they prepare to enter the field.
Many Missouri alumni across the country are eager to hire journalism grads. Like students today, these alumni were often helped by Missouri graduates when landing their first jobs. To many alumni, it's all about maintaining the Missouri tradition by seeking students they know can succeed in the challenging, ever-changing world.
In the Rocky Mountains
Robert Sanchez, BJ '99, has no doubt that Missouri journalism students have what it takes to compete and thrive.
"Going through the J-School, with all its demands, was exactly like a first job," he says. "I had deadlines and night meetings and competition within the newsroom and in class. J-School is a sink-or-swim place, and no one is going to make life easy for you."
Sanchez is now a senior staff writer for 5280, a Denver city magazine often considered among the nation's best regional magazines. Sanchez was the magazine's first Missouri hire when he came on staff in July 2007. That number has since expanded to three full-time employees from the Missouri School of Journalism, including deputy editor Geoff Van Dyke, MA '00, and associate art director Dana Pritts, BJ '01. These three swap stories about professors, football and Shakespeare's Pizza. Van Dyke, who is involved in hiring, is always eager to find the best person for the job, and those individuals tend to be Missouri Journalism students.
"They have a good practical sense of journalism," he says. "They understand not only the nuts and bolts, but also they understand what makes a magazine and can think about the big picture."
5280 deputy editor Geoff Van Dyke, MA '00, senior staff writer Robert Sanchez, BJ '99, and associate art director Dana Pritts, BJ '01, strike a J-School pride pose in front of the offices of their Denver city magazine. Photo: Jeff Panis, 5280 Magazine.
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Sanchez also says there is a familiarity when hiring and working with Missouri journalism students. He knows what classes they have taken and that they have been taught how to be good journalists.
"A J-School student is very motivated and driven to be the best they can be," he says. "You just know they can do the job."
Sanchez still remembers how it was being a journalism student. When he was at the Columbia Missourian, he was a sleep-deprived reporter trying to scoop other competitors. His Missourian mentors, quick deadlines, strict edits and the competitive pool of journalism students inevitably helped him develop a thick skin.
Three of his professors - George Kennedy, Brant Houston and Richard Mullins - also instilled in him the importance of the Missouri Method.
"In their classes, there were no right or wrong answers, only processes from which we'd begin to create the building blocks of our careers," he says.
In the 5280 office, Sanchez does whatever he can to help MU students in their searches for internships and jobs. Sanchez understands that the hard work and vigor instilled in all J-Schoolers does not stop with his graduating class.
"Missouri education set me apart from even veteran reporters and writers, and for that I always will be indebted to the university," he says. "I consider myself lucky that I can say that I'm a Missouri graduate because my journalism degree says so much about who I am and where I came from."
In the Texas Plains
Missourian journalism students are on The Richards Group's radar as well. The J-School has a great reputation for preparing their students for the ad industry, and agencies such as The Richards Group recognize students' talent.
Ashley Douglas boards The Richards Group's private jet for a business trip to the QuikTrip headquarters in Tulsa, Okla. A principal in the agency and the lead creative copywriter accompanied Douglas.
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Alumni Ashley Douglas (middle) and Abby Foster (left), college friends and Richards Group colleagues, cheer on the Tigers at a Texas-Mizzou football game. The two colleagues tailgated with a Dallas friend who is also a Tiger fan. Photos: Courtesy of Ashley Douglas.
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Ashley Douglas, BJ '06, has helped employers at The Richards Group appreciate the high caliber that Missouri journalism represents. During her senior year, she was interviewed by two Missouri alumni and Richards Group employees, Kristen Peterson, BJ '02, and Sarah Orlovic, BJ '02. During their conversation, Douglas recognized that these women appreciated her resume far more than if they had not attended Missouri. The alumni recruiters knew the intensity of the courses Douglas had taken and the value of her various extracurricular leadership roles, such as philanthropy chair of Alpha Delta Pi sorority.
After getting a job in the agency's account services department, Douglas knew she wanted to recruit other qualified employees, especially Missouri journalism graduates. Since then, she has referred many J-School students and helped develop a stronger relationship between The Richards Group and Missouri. Eight Missouri alumni have worked in account services, sports marketing, digital brand management and traditional advertising. Recently, The Richards Group participated in the fall recruitment fair for information interviews with students with plans to return for the spring career fair.
"I definitely think my degree increased in value with each talented Mizzou grad the agency hired," Douglas says, "especially since The Richards Group is in Texas, and Mizzou is not as well recognized there."
Even with the distance from Columbia, Douglas was not the only one helping students get their first jobs. Larry Powell, then an associate professor of strategic communication and Mojo Ad consultant, had an agenda of his own. He took students on networking trips to tour The Richards Group and give presentations to agency executives. These trips helped students gain insight on agency life and gave them the opportunity to showcase their talent.
The combination of recommendations from Douglas and the students' performance on these trips left many employers curious and wanting more Missouri journalism employees.
"The more Mizzou grads we hired, the more executives in the company took notice of the strat comm program at Mizzou and wanted to hire more Mizzou grads," Douglas says.
Chelsea Lu, a senior in strategic communication, experienced the powerful Missouri connection when she got an internship with Click Here, the digital subsidiary of The Richards Group. Lu first talked to a Richards Group recruiter and Missouri graduate at a journalism career fair on campus. Later, Stephanie Padgett, an assistant professor in the strategic communication emphasis area, referred Lu to Kelly O'Neil, who was in charge of hiring. After a Skype interview, Lu was offered the internship. She joined the media team at Click Here and helped account teams with site research, performance reports and other tasks.
In Lu's eyes, Mojo Ad, the student-staffed professional advertising agency, prepared her for what she would experience in the industry. Lu's hands-on experience in designing and planning an advertising campaign with her Mojo teammates taught her the importance of having a good group dynamic. She was constantly challenged to deliver exceptional work for their client, RedBox.
Now a recent graduate, Lu knows that when she gets back into the work force, she has a strong reputation to uphold for the School.
"I think each and every one of us works really hard to keep up with that standard because we know that when it comes to the day that we walk out of the school, we must make Missouri proud," Lu says of her fellow classmates.
This reputation is what is carrying Missouri journalism and Missouri graduates forward and into the work force. The journalism industry is expanding into the digital age, and the Missouri School of Journalism is rapidly adapting to those changes. As scary as graduation can be, students can rest assured that there are alumni looking to hire them. The Missouri alumni network is proud to help fellow Missouri graduates find their way to success, just as alumni continue to help and seek out one another throughout their careers.
"At virtually every stop in my journalism life, I've met two kinds of people," Sanchez says. "Those who received their diplomas from the J-School and excelled at their profession and those who are happy to have Missouri-educated journalists in their newsrooms."
Question for Readers:
Did a Missouri journalism graduate ever help you get a job? Let us know by filling out the simple online form directly below.
Use the Submit a Class Note form for shorter updates. If you would like to submit more detailed information, use the Submit a Profile form instead.
Please Note: All text submitted to the J-School may be edited and posted on the J-School's public Web site. The School does not publish contact information to its public Web pages, particularly e-mail addresses. Materials must be in accordance with the University's Acceptable Use Policy.
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