StratComm Career Fair: Our Margaret Duffy Interview
Last week, we published a blog post that questioned why it’s a good idea to exclude 60 percent of the Missouri School of Journalism from the StratComm Career Fair. Some of you did not like that!
We don’t care much for the false ideal of objectivity, so we opted to go a different route: reported commentary. We aired our opinion, and gave StratComm a space to air theirs.
That’s why we will reprint in full the email interview we had last week with Strategic Communication Faculty Chair Margaret Duffy.
This will be fun!
My questions are in bold, followed by Duffy’s responses:
- Why is the Career Fair only open to Strategic Communication students?
Four years ago, we made the decision to conduct our own Strategic Communication Career Fair because we felt that the existing Journalism career fair did not meet the unique needs, capabilities and interests of Strategic Communication students. We conducted research with recruiters in advertising, marketing, public relations and related fields to find out what they were looking for and what skills and experience they preferred. Our curriculum, of course, reflects those industry interests including working with real clients in marketing communication and advertising campaigns.
The Strategic Communication Career Fair is conducted by and for Strategic Communication students. We receive no resources, monetary or otherwise, from the School of Journalism. It is a huge investment in time and effort on the part of our students.
- How was the decision made to restrict the Career Fair to only Strategic Communication students?
Recruiters come to campus because they have hired Missouri Strategic Communication students and have had success with them because of the specific training and experiences they receive in our emphasis area. Recruiters are looking for juniors for internships and seniors for permanent jobs. They specifically wish to speak with and interview individuals with the best preparation for the available jobs. Students in other majors generally do not have the coursework, research background or experience that these recruiters are looking for.
Moreover, strategic communication students now make up over 40% of the total J-School undergraduate enrollment so from the standpoint of sheer numbers, further expansion of the career fair to individuals unprepared for the industry is not feasible.
The other majors, of course, have excellent preparation and coursework for careers as reporters, magazine writers and designers, broadcasters, editors and online journalists.
- Why not make any exceptions to the StratComm only policy, since the new interest areas are meant to encourage students to take more classes across the sequences?
We strongly believe that the prerequisites and requirements in our emphasis area are crucial to students’ success.
If students from other emphasis areas are interested in conducting their own career fairs that highlight their unique preparation and capabilities, we would be glad to advise and give suggestions about planning and logistics.
Follow J-School Buzz on Twitter and Like us on Facebook