My image is the view from the office at Viacom from our visit. It was one of the only and best pictures I took during the trip. I thought Viacom ended up being a company that I am extremely interested in, intrigued by, and would love to work for because of the experience that we had at their office. It seemed like such a fun and collaborative environment and one that I could see myself in in the future. Vandy on Madison Avenue taught me a lot.
First, it taught me what types of jobs are available in the media and entertainment industry. There were so many people that I met that had jobs that I had never even heard of before, and that I would never have been exposed to had it not been for the trip. Second, I was able to gain a lot of advice about working in the media industry and how to move up in the corporate world. The people that spoke gave a lot of good advice and stories about their own career paths that showed me how I should steer mine in the future. Third, I learned that communications jobs were not all that I had expected. I had no idea that there were so many marketing jobs available at Citi, which I always associated with financial institutions. This piece of information really expanded the market for my job search and opened so many new doors that I had never considered. Lastly, I learned the importance of networking. We met so many amazing Vanderbilt alumni in all different areas and they were all so willing to share their story. They were passionate, intelligent, and generous people. Getting their contact information was truly priceless as they are people that I can now always reach out to either to get advice or to try and get a position.
Overall, the trip did wonderful things for me and my knowledge of the professional world. I will definitely use all of these things to my benefit in the future and always keep them in mind when interacting with professionals.
-Rachel Kalichman