AdPR Internship Profile: Caroline Laszcz works at Ogilvy

Advertising major Caroline Laszcz

Caroline Laszcz worked as an Account Management Intern at advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather throughout the summer. She is a senior studying advertising. 

Describe the process of applying and receiving the Ogilvy summer internship. What was your official title?

I began my internship search in December of last year, which I realize now was probably a little early, as most agencies had not yet begun accepting internship applications. Ogilvy, however, was one of the few agencies that had already opened up their application, so this

was the first one I applied to, and therefore, the first one I heard back from. I also spoke to the Ogilvy recruiters at AdPR Connection in November of last year, which definitely sparked my interest in the company. In February, I was called in for an interview, which was actually three separate interviews, all back to back: two interviews were with two separate teams, and the third was with my boss. A few weeks after the interviews, I was asked to do a phone interview with my boss. Although this was the final interview in the process, it was the most casual of all of them and the one in which I felt the most at ease. I had a feeling this interview went really well, and about a week later I received a call with an internship offer. Since it was still fairly early in the internship application process, I still hadn’t even completed most of my applications to other agencies (and many agencies I was looking at still hadn’t opened their applications). I knew that working for Ogilvy was a rare opportunity, though, so I accepted right away. All of the interviews were within the account management field, as this is the area I am interested in, and my official title was Account Management intern.

What drew you to this internship specifically?

Ogilvy & Mather was the first ad agency I ever heard of back when I first became interested in advertising. There are tons of agencies out there that I would love to work for, but I’ve always heard great things about Ogilvy and I knew it was a very prestigious agency. David Ogilvy is often considered a “father” of advertising, so I knew that working for this company, even if for a brief period of time, would be a great honor and would impress future employers.

What were you hoping to gain from the internship? What will you bring back to Grady

College?

The main thing I was looking to gain from this internship was simply exposure. I’ve learned all about account management and various other positions in my classes, but it’s difficult to tell if you’ll really be happy in a certain field unless you actually spend some time working in that field. Actually working at an agency for the first time was a great and very hands-on way to determine what type of position I want to end up in. I’m excited to be able to share my experience with my classmates in Grady and let them know what account management is like. A lot of students don’t know what side of advertising they would like to work in, so I am looking forward to be able to tell other students about my internship and help them determine if the type of work I did at Ogilvy is something theywould like to do as well.

Which skills learned within the AdPR Department of Grady College helped you to earn the internship?

Throughout the internship process, I received a lot of tips and encouragement from my advisor, and I don’t think I would have landed the internship without the confidence boost she gave me. I am also lucky to have all of the knowledge on the various positions within an agency that I learned during Intro to Advertising. All of the teachers I’ve had in Grady so far seem to know a lot about the field and about what it’s like to actually work at an agency, which was really helpful when deciding where to apply and what positions to apply for. I am also extremely grateful for AdPR Connection, because that is where I first came into contact with the Ogilvy recruiters, which eventually lead to my internship offer.

Describe your day-to-day responsibilities at Ogilvy.

Every day, I searched the web for news and updates on my client’s industry. One of my responsibilities was to draft a weekly report to send out to my team detailing all that was new in the industry at the time. I also communicated with the client on a daily basis to create revision orders on the pieces we were working on at the time. I would then relay any changes the client wanted to make to the creative team. Working in account management requires a lot of timeliness, attention to detail, and communication skills, and this internship definitely helped me hone those skills.

What are your post-graduation plans? Long-term career dreams?

As of right now, I don’t have any post-graduation plans, but I would really like to take a year off to travel the world before I enter the workforce. After that, I definitely plan on applying to a variety of agencies. I am really interested in social media and plan on looking into that more in the future.

Do you have any advice for other AdPR students looking for experience?

My advice to other students looking for internships or full time positions would be to never give up, never expect anything to go the way you planned, and never let yourself become discouraged because of lack of experience or because you don’t think you measure up to the competition. I almost didn’t even apply to Ogilvy. I was intimidated by the extensive application and kept telling myself that I was wasting my time because I was way less qualified than other applicants. Why I had this thought in my head, I don’t know; but being offered the position clearly proved all my pre-conceived notions wrong.