Annenberg Job Shadowing Program 2017

This Spring 2017, we launched our very first Job Shadowing Program, which consisted of 6 Annenberg alumni and 9 freshmen/sophomores. 

---

Annenberg students Catherine Yang (2020) and Terry Nguyen (2019) joined their job shadowing host, Caroline Leach from AT&T:

“I found the experience extremely helpful and rewarding because I [improved] my interpersonal skills and was able to hold a professional conversation and ask important questions, some of which I never knew I had.” She also had the opportunity to understand the language of business in corporate communications and see how a corporate office setting functions." - Catherine

"The Annenberg Job Shadowing Program gave me the opportunity to speak with a variety of communications professionals at the AT&T Entertainment Group. I was hosted by Caroline Leach, and she was gracious enough to arrange personal meetings with her communications colleagues, so I could speak and ask questions during the job shadowing. I gained so much insight on what a “day in the life” of a corporate professional is like and was able to experience a true work environment.” - Terry

---

Gracie Catanzarite (2019) and Sarah Ching (2019) completed their job shadow with Annenberg alum Grant Toups at PulsePoint Group:

“I enjoyed the opportunity to job shadow at PulsePoint Group.  It gave me the chance to see what the digital consulting business was like.  I sat in on an internal client meeting and met with employees in different departments to get an inside view of the company and the work that they perform.” - Gracie 

“The biggest lesson that I took from this Job Shadowing program is that the workplace comes in a variety of forms, with different types of people and ranging levels of professionalism. When I told the Managing Partner of Pulsepoint, Grant Toups, that I was still unsure of what aspect of public relations I wanted to pursue as a career, he urged me to consider what I wanted in a work environment and to consider the industries that would be most conducive to my personality. After receiving this advice, I had a much easier time visualizing my future and identifying the companies and industries that I could potentially see myself working at.” -Sarah

---

Megan Diamond (2019) and Hannah Maddie Hengst (2019) completed their job shadow experience with Bob Gold of Bob Gold & Associates:

“Job shadowing Bob from Bold Gold and Associates was an excellent learning experience. I participated and listened in on conferences/meetings, have lunch with members of the company and experience a day in the life of a CEO in a public relations workplace. I also had the opportunity to learn the key differences between in-house firms and agency PR firms. I am grateful for the connections that I made and the networking opportunities this experience allowed me to obtain!” -Megan

“It was truly a wonderful experience to shadow at Bob Gold & Associates. I feel that I gained a lot of valuable insight into both bustling agency life and b2b PR. Furthermore, in observing the way Mr. Gold interacts with clients and media alike, I learned that you can never take no for an answer in PR.

For instance, when Mr. Gold and a client disagreed about what sort of media coverage was feasible before an event, rather than accepting the client's insistence that only so much could be done, Mr. Gold continued to suggest alternative paths and resources that allowed the client to compromise and for Mr. Gold's envisioned media coverage to become a reality. Watching Mr. Gold's interactions with clients made me realize how far finding the perfect balance between friendliness and firmness will get you in this industry.” -Maddie

---

Andie Wright (2019) was matched with Annenberg alum Joanna Massey of Lionsgate for her job shadow experience:

“What an incredible experience! I had such an amazing time yesterday at Lionsgate. I learned so much and I am very grateful for the opportunity. While job shadowing at Lionsgate I learned the value of utilizing different personalities to achieve common goals. I had the opportunity to observe various meetings, and it was exciting to see how the strengths of various members of the company were utilized to perform tasks and make decisions.

Lionsgate values taking initiative in one's career and using a proactive approach to better the company. I was very impressed by the company dynamic and culture. Everyone was very welcoming and friendly and worked as a team to accomplish success!” - Andie