Jumbo Spotlight: Julie Gomstyn, Communications & Advertising Professional

Introducing Julie Gomstyn, Senior Associate at Digitas, an integrated brand agency right here in Boston. Read on as Julie chats about her career trajectory, the vibrant culture of PR, and important steps for breaking into the industry.

1. How did you first become interested in the communications/advertising industry?
I have enjoyed writing ever since I was little. But I knew that writing per se wasn’t something I wanted to do 24/7. I also really like strategizing new ideas and working with people, so public relations seemed like a great combination of those skills.

2. What types of extracurricular activities were you involved with on campus? How did your experiences at Tufts help shape your career path?
I wrote and later served as a Managing Editor for the Tufts Zamboni. I learned a lot through editing and writing for a publication, and the fact that it was a humor magazine helped me to inject more creativity into my writing. I also interned at Tufts Career Services, where I helped students works on their resumes and cover letters. I found both these experiences very useful for the work I do now.

3. Did you have any internships and/or prior work experiences within media?
I held a variety of communications internships before Digitas. The summer after my freshman year, I interned two days a week unpaid for small adventure travel company as a PR intern. The winter of sophomore year, I did one of Tufts’ wintership programs at a nonprofit called Woodhull Institute. Again, I got some great hands-on experience; interning for a smaller company will do that. The summer after my sophomore year, I had a paid internship at a software company in the marketing department. I did it full time over the summer and part time during the fall as well.

The summer after my junior year, I had another paid internship, this time for a PR agency called MS&L. During the fall I also used it to fulfill the internship credit for my communications minor. Interning at a PR agency was a great experience; I learned a lot about working in media and the types of materials that you have to write in PR. I also had the chance to work with a number of different clients. I had wonderful mentors during my time there, and I got a great feel for the PR industry.

4. How did you land your job at Digitas?
My senior year, I reached out to a wide range of communications and media companies in Boston. I put together a list of the top companies I wanted to work for. Every day, I checked on their websites to see if they had any available job openings. It’s important that students take time to perfect resumes and cover letters, but once a job is posted, everyone else can see it too. You want to try to apply as quickly as you can.

I wound up landing the job a couple of weeks before I graduated. I started working a week after graduation.

5. What are your day-to-day responsibilities at the company?
I am a Senior Associate in the Corporate Communications team and my job is to represent Digitas both internally and externally to the wider advertising industry. Every morning, I come into the office and check the news on Digitas. In public relations, you want to see what people are saying about your clients---good, bad, inaccurate. It’s something that I keep my eye on all day.

I also post content to Digitas’ social channels, particularly our Twitter account and Facebook page. I update these channels on a daily basis, posting about events that we’re hosting and industry news that we think followers would be interested in. I also upload videos to our YouTube page and photos to our Flickr account.

I work on a weekly newsletter that goes out to the entire company, covering everything that’s happening at Digitas. I also publicize news about Digitas externally, informing the media about new ad campaigns that we’ve launched and events that our people are speaking at.

6. What are your favorite aspects of the job?
I love working on our social channels – it’s a lot of fun and I enjoy interacting with people on these networks. . I also love it when I get to promote the exciting things that are happening at Digitas to the media. It’s a wonderful feeling to see someone write something great about your client.

7. What skills do you feel are important to succeed at a job in communications?
You definitely need to be a good writer. You need to learn how to make your writing shorter and more to the point. It’s also important to be attentive to detail and have good research skills.

In today’s environment, if you want to succeed or land a job in communications, I recommend learning about social media because that’s become an increasingly important part of communications. I started blogging my senior year to make myself more appealing to companies.

An understanding of HTML could also be a good tool to have in your arsenal. I use it for the weekly newsletter, and it’s helpful for working with certain blog platforms.

8. What advice do you have for undergraduates also pursuing careers within communications? On the job-search in general?
Internships have become pretty critical for careers in communications. I would also say that it’s important to have good writing samples. Stay away from things that are too long; samples need to be well-written and not much longer than a page.

For the job hunt in general, you shouldn’t limit yourself to any one avenue of search. I used Craigslist and other job boards, but I also searched on Twitter and LinkedIn. I landed my job in Digitas by putting together a list of companies that I was interested in, and I checked their websites every day.