AdPR MA Internship Spotlight: Jiaqiao (Clare) Li

Jiaqiao (Clare) Li

Jiaqiao (Clare) Li is a 2012 M.A. graduate with a concentration in advertising. She is originally from Foshan, China. 

Where did you work?

J House Media Group in Athens.

What are your responsibilities?

I managed some of the internal client accounts, facilitated the web design and development process, offered digital marketing suggestions that benefit clients' business, and managed the agency's social presence. 

What valuable information or skills have you learned at your internship?

I learned to ask good questions — questions that inspire clients to think about their business in new perspective in the context of the digital era, got to observe how people with different talents and focus communicate with each other and prioritize in the work process, learned the fundamental concepts and tactics within the web industry, and most importantly, challenged myself to think, get on the phone and get awkward!:) 

What part of your Grady experience (classes, professors, etc.) has been helpful in your work experience? 

Dr. Lee Becker's Research Methodology class prepared me to be analytical but at the same time acutely aware of logical and narrative fallacies when I set out to explore a hypothesis. It's so easy to get lost in the sea of tools and info and slip into the self-imposed logic. Referencing back to the client's websites, their business and the industry always gave me new ideas to see a set of data or trends. That's where Pat Thomas' Newsroom Class set in. It helped me feel okay to get out of my comfort zone and asked people simple open questions without assumptions. Dr. Karen King's Media class equipped me with the fundamental knowledge about the media industry. Dr. Kent Middleton's Media Law class made me ultra-sensitive when industry issues such as user privacy, net neutrality, DMCA, anti-competition patent fight came up. It's interesting to see and predict how the big players like Google and Facebook launch new business models but try to sidestep the legal hot spots. 

What has been the best part of your internship experience?

Being able to work in an agency with really cool and smart people, and feeling trusted and recognized by them. It always takes time to learn and there are always new things to learn. But the people that you learn from and with makes a big difference in the whole experience. 

Now that you're a recent alumna, what was your favorite Grady memory?

In one of Pat's newsroom in-class projects, we had to go around and out of campus and asked people that looked completely different from us about 9/11's impact on the young generation. It was quite a fun experience to approach someone and connect with them in the most unexpected way. 

What are your career goals? 

Be a digital strategist. Surround myself with smart, driven and creative people and make some awesome things together.