Career Path of an Account Manager at Icon Media Direct
Karenna's career path began with marketing agency internships providing "good exposure to how an agency run[s]," followed by a valuable role as a marketing mentor at Cal Poly, solidifying fundamental knowledge and building professor relationships. After graduation, a successful cold application on LinkedIn secured Karenna's current position at Icon, progressing from Account Coordinator to Account Manager within a year.
Career Exploration, Job Search, Networking, Entry-Level, Career Development
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Karenna Case
Account Manager
Icon Media Direct
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
n/a
Business Management & Admin
Advertising, Communications & Marketing
Sales and Client Management
Greek Life Member
Video Highlights
1. Interned at marketing agencies to gain industry exposure.
2. Worked as a marketing mentor, solidifying fundamentals and networking with professors.
3. Found current job on LinkedIn and applied directly, demonstrating a proactive job search approach.
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path, starting with your experiences in college? Please include any internships or jobs you had before your current role.
Starting in college, when I was a little unsure of where I wanted to go career-wise, I interned at a couple of marketing agencies. While I didn't do a ton of work, it was good exposure to how an agency runs and what kind of tasks other people are working on. It was just general exposure to the industry.
Then, during my time at Cal Poly, I worked in my department as a marketing mentor. Essentially, I was a TA for the intro to marketing class. That was honestly such a good job, and I would highly recommend doing something like that to anyone who has the opportunity.
I really got to know the marketing fundamentals well. I also got to know all of the professors who taught that class. It wasn't a huge department, so I had a lot of them again, and that was cool.
After college, I started at my current job at Icon. I've been here ever since. I found this job on LinkedIn and applied for it cold, which kind of goes against everything they teach you about job applications, but it can work out.
I started as an account coordinator, which is the entry-level position within the client services team. I spent a few months as a junior account manager, and then I've been in the account manager role for a year this September.