Texas State alumni share their experience in the advertising field

With Mass Comm Week coming to an end, students gathered for the last event of the week to hear advertising graduates share their experiences in the work force.

Recent Texas State University advertising graduates Divya Darsi, Matt Shoewalter and Olivia Williams each shared their journeys in landing a job after college and working as professionals.

The panel started off with each guest saying the reason they are working in advertising.

Olivia Williams, GSD&M account manager, said her interest in the field started because her uncle owns a media agency which helped her get her foot in the door.

“I knew I wanted to be in a creative space without having to create the work,” Williams said.

Matt Shoewalter, DigitasLCB associate copywriter, said he was never talented enough to make real art, but had always been a good storyteller which lead him to find an interest in the advertising field.

When asked how Texas State prepared them for their career, Shoewalter and Darsi, Y&R account planner, mentioned NSAC, a National Student Advertising Competition. NSAC is a competition that provides college students real-world experience in creating strategic advertising, marketing or media campaign for a corporate client.

Darsi said NSAC helped take her through the creative process of working in advertising.

“It’s a really good process to go through to figure things out,” Darsi said. “It helped teach me how to make decisions.”

Shoewalter said he learned a lot on how to present an idea.

“I learned how to explain a strategy from top to bottom and how a project comes to be, how it serves the brand and is executed,” Shoewalter said.

Before ending the discussion, all three guests were asked what skills students needed to succeed in the field of advertising.

Williams recommended students go to work everyday with a positive attitude and to remain disciplined.

“Make sure you are proving your worth,” Williams said.

Shoewalter suggested students remained humble and passionate.

“Do not tell me how creative you are, show me,” Showalter said. “You can’t wish to be creative, you have to actually do it.”

Darsi closed the discussion reminding students to continue experiencing life.

“Make time for living life and experiencing things,” Darsi said. “Those experiences are going to make you better at advertising and better at connecting with people.”