Jenna Hillmer

Major: Communication Arts (Communication Science & Rhetoric track)

Certificate: Digital Studies

Graduation Date: May 2015

What does a typical day in the office look like for you?

I currently help develop and implement creative and consistent content for social media, marketing campaigns, event collateral, our corporate website, video, print and digital advertisements, and tradeshows. On top of directly developing and creating the content, I also help expand and evolve the content strategy for our global campaigns and initiatives across multiple channels and platforms.

How did you end up at Gilson?

I started my career in the marketing agency world working as a Social Media Account Coordinator at first and eventually was promoted to an Account Executive. As I developed my interpersonal skills, I realized my passion was in content creation and strategy, specifically for digital marketing, which is how I ended up at Gilson. Now I get to work on developing content strategy for all areas of marketing on a global level every day.

How has Digital Studies influenced your career path?

The classes that I took for the Digital Studies Certificate were the first opportunity to learn about how social media and other digital platforms could be used for brand marketing. I took two of Professor Jeremy Morris’ courses – Com Arts 346 and Com Arts 459 – and they were two of the more memorable courses I took in college. They were so interesting and Prof. Morris did a great job of engaging the class in a meaningful and memorable way that helped me see how I could apply what I was learning to future careers.

It was through those two courses in particular that I realized I wanted to explore careers in digital marketing, specifically those that focused on social media. I graduated at a great time for this type of role, as social media specialist positions were just starting to saturate the market.

Do you have any advice for current students?

Work hard, but don’t forget to play hard too. Find an internship to jump-start your career, because that’s very important, but don’t forget that college goes by SO fast and it will be over before you know it. You have the rest of your life for professional development, but you only have 4-5 years to soak up the college experience. Take advantage of all the clubs, activities, and extracurriculars that UW has to offer!

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career thus far?

I’m proud of myself for not letting my title changes define my career path and happiness. When I realized that being on an account management team in client services wasn’t for me, I made a conscious decision to figure out what I wanted out of my career and I made that happen by going back to my content marketing roots. Don’t be afraid to make a change if you’re unhappy. Life is too short to spend 40-50 hours a week doing something you hate or that makes you unhappy. Make sure your career aligns with your passions and what you like to do – it makes all the difference!