Advertising major Jessica Hoppe’s internship at WCFX taught
her what a career in marketing will really be like.
“Everyone was very welcoming and more than happy to help me
where I needed it,” she said. “The workload was challenging, but very helpful
for the future. I look at my experience with CFX as an extremely helpful
opportunity to get my foot in the door and learn how several parts of the
business work.”
Hoppe,
a senior from Warren, Mich.,
worked as a marketing intern at the Mt.
Pleasant, Mich., radio station. She had a marketing
class taught by the station’s manager Jim Spangenberg, so she asked if he would
be willing to hire her.
“He
happily welcomed the opportunity and was very flexible when working with me,”
she said.
Hoppe
said many of the projects she worked on involved programs and techniques she
was unfamiliar with, but she learned along the way.
“Jim
always encouraged me to use every possible resource and really dive into
projects,” she said. “The things that I ended up learning will definitely come
in handy in future jobs.”
Her
duties included market research, analyzing and utilizing database information,
creating surveys, reformatting and updating the projection report and gap
report transfer, leading demonstration meetings with the sales team and going on
location remotes to promote CFX.
“At first
I thought it was going to be a bore and simply just for the credit, but I’m
very glad I chose CFX,” Hoppe said. “They challenge you, and Jim was trying to
get me into every aspect of the station so I could see how every part worked
together.”
Her goal
is to work for an advertising agency, and she feels the market research she
conducted at CFX relates to the research she would perform at an agency.
“I
collaborated with the sales team, also, so I got to see how some negotiating
for media selling works, which is a good career choice in an agency,” Hoppe
said.
She is
grateful for the experience and made several new networking connections in the
industry.
Now that her marketing internship
is over, she asked if she could stay on and work in the studio side of things.
“I’m not getting credit for staying
on as a volunteer intern, but working in the studio is a lot of fun, and
learning with everyone is a great time,” Hoppe said. “I would recommend an
internship with CFX to anyone who is willing to learn and have a good time
doing it.”