Business endeavors and speakers welcomed by AMA
By Sofia Santiago
FLYERS and posters promoting Rider’s first American Marketing Association Week were hung across campus, in the view of passersby interested in gaining career advice. Organized by Rider’s AMA club and the Department of Marketing, the week focused on bridging the gap between students and the job industry.
Throughout the week, “Nearly 90% of [Rider’s] marketing classes hosted guest speakers who shared personal career journeys, industry insights, and real-world case studies,” according to Anubha Mishra, chair of the marketing department and advisor of Rider’s AMA.
Beverly Braddock, assistant professor and director of the Business in Action program shared, “I love having guest speakers [in class] … these are people who are coming in because they want to help, so take every opportunity to make those connections.”
Additionally, seven guest executives agreed to mentor juniors and seniors to look over students’ resumes and give feedback on their networking opener, internships or job pitches.
Finally, the week culminated with a panel discussion on Oct. 16 in the Rue Auditorium, giving the more than 100 students in attendance a chance to meet experienced professionals.
The Norm Brodsky College of Business students trickled in through the doors at 11 a.m. and signed in at tables near the entrance. Some students received extra credit for attending. Once inside, finding a seat was difficult because the auditorium was packed.
Mishra walked onstage and introduced the eight panelists, many of whom were Rider alums. Six of the panelists sat in chairs, and two attended over Zoom. Each came from different backgrounds in the industry ranging from data analytics, information technology, sports, beauty and healthcare marketing.
After each panelist gave a brief introduction of themselves and their career journey, Mishra asked questions about what a typical day in their lives looks like and how to deal with growing artificial intelligence fears for entry level jobs.
The panelists offered advice for students based on their own experiences. Sarah Carbonaro ’21, a digital marketing coordinator for The National Brain Tumor Society, said, “Working on your soft skills and getting to know yourself is super important. Technical and hard skills are important as well, but being able to walk into a room and talk to anyone is what can set you apart in an interview.”
Emphasizing this, Carbonaro took time to chat with some students after the panel. Seniors Victoria Adolphe, accounting and digital marketing major, and Tracy Barrientos, healthcare management and management leadership major, expressed how helpful this event was and the hope it gave them as they enter an extremely competitive job market.
“I think getting to see so many Rider alums, and thinking ‘that is going to be me in the future’ is really eye opening,” Adolphe said.
Carbonaro and the other panelists were contacted by marketing professors such as Sergei Kuharsky, who Mishra thanked.
“We heard from our students that when they hear from people who have graduated from Rider, it’s a different level of comfort they feel … they feel the reassurance that they are talking to people who have been in their seats,” Mishra said.
Another panelist, Ashley Mayer ’18, director of go-to-market strategy at GoodRx and former AMA president at Rider, described how being a panelist is beneficial for the students and herself as well.
Mayer said, “When you’re talking to someone who is looking for what to do next, it forces you to take stock of what you’re currently doing and reflect on what has worked well and what hasn’t … That’s why I like to come back to these things, hopefully my experiences help others but also recounting my own helps me excel too.”
Mayer’s advice to students focused on empathy and understanding how to be a team player.
Braddock reflected on why AMA week was such a success, “[Marketing professors] bring in guest speakers into class anyway, but it’s nice when it’s
