By Will LinkCarmela D’Arienzo ’21 has had many learning experiences at Marist College, and the path to and experience at her first public relations internship were no different. In the summer of 2019 Carmela was an intern at DeVries Global, a public relations and communications firm in New York City. DeVries Global clients include a range of large brands such as IHOP, Samsung, Sephora and Skullcandy. Carmela first learned about DeVries Global by going on a Road to the Workplace trip sponsored by the Center for Career Services. Being a Communication major with Public Relations and Advertising concentrations, she was interested in seeing the work environment at a firm. Carmela said the trip was also a chance for her to begin networking with like-minded public relations professionals. “Being able to visit the DeVries Global office a semester before the internship application was open allowed me to connect with current employees and build meaningful relationships with them,” Carmela said. While on the Road to the Workplace trip, Carmela was introduced to Marist alumni Madison Gabor ’18, Katie Johnson ’16, and Stephanie Duffy ’15. The three are just some of the many Marist graduates who work at DeVries Global. Gabor and Johnson had interned with DeVries Global in the past and worked their way up to account executive roles. The group of Marist alumni spoke to students who were on the trip about their roles and day to day tasks at DeVries Global. They also provided general advice on beginning your career at a communications firm or agency. Though she did not know it at the time, Carmela ended up benefitting from Road to the Workplace even more when she saw DeVries Global had a table at the Fall 2018 Career and Internship Fair. Carmela followed up with Nicole Pace, a human resources contact she had met with on the trip, during the career fair. Carmela expressed her interest in working at DeVries Global. Carmela said participating in both networking events helped her secure her summer internship with DeVries Global, as the turnaround between the opening of the positions and her hiring was rapid. “(In the PR industry) the time between application postings, deadlines, and offers is very quick, so the whole process happened over a matter of weeks,” she said. After Carmela applied for her internship in February, she had a virtual and in-person interview the following month before receiving her offer. Carmela worked with many of the firm’s beauty clients during her internship. Her main client was Secret Deodorants, but she also got to work on accounts for Pantene, Aussie, and Verizon. Carmela said one of the most fulfilling and challenging assignments she had while interning at DeVries Global was a presumptive challenge from a client that gave her and her team instant feedback. “Aussie hair care wanted to continue their campaign and we made a whole pitch and got their live opinions,” Carmela said. “It taught me what it's like to learn in a real professional setting and test the advice of some extremely successful people.” Carmela also acquired soft skills while interning at DeVries because she had sets of daily and weekly deadlines from her clients. “Time management was crucial, and I definitely learned that by making sure all of my assignments were done to the best of my ability,” Carmela said. For Carmela, some of the most positive aspects of the internship were similar to the factors that helped her initially get her foot in the door: the connections that she built. “The company culture was very open and personable,” Carmela said. “It’s important to get to know you co-workers. When you work with people you like, you end up producing better work.” Though she had a great experience at DeVries Global, Carmela is not ready to rest on her laurels. “I want to keep changing and learning. The industry allows me to put myself into new environments and push boundaries.” “I want to keep changing and learning,” she said. “The industry allows me to put myself into new environments and push boundaries.”
Carmela is certainly on the right path to doing just that. She is currently studying abroad at the Marist campus in Florence, Italy, for Spring 2020. Carmela is enrolled in the five-year program for Integrated Marketing-Communication at Marist. She is expected to obtain her bachelor’s degree in communications in May 2021 and her master’s degree the following year. Good luck, Carmela, in all your endeavors! And thank you to DeVries Global for hosting and attending events hosted by the Marist College Center for Career Services. UPDATE: Carmela D'Arienzo’s internship experience at DeVries Global was also featured in a student achievement piece on the Marist College website titled Experience is the Best Teacher: Marist Students Share Their Internship Stories. Paisley Haddad '21 wrote the internship roundup, which was published May 26, 2020.
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